PostieDex: PostBack's Guide to Customer Types
Note: PostBack’s Guide to Customer Types is compiled advice from seasoned Customer Service Representatives and Managers. It should be used as reference material. PostBack is not responsible for how you conduct your own business. These tips are meant to help you navigate your amazing, and sometimes not-so-amazing, customers.
Select a PostieDex customer type to get started:
Kind Type Customers
Well-mannered, kind people who bring the very best of experiences in a business setting
Phantom Type Customers
You may never have seen these customers in the first place, or they have simply disappeared
Deceptive Type Customers
These customers bend the truth, often trying to get around laws, rules and policies
Confounding Type Customers
Unpredictable individuals who make commerce interactions quite stressful
Combative Type Customers
Aggressive clients who express their dissatisfaction with physical or verbal violence
Deceptive Type Customers
The Exaggerator
Exaggerators see or feel things larger than in real life. They don’t always mean to exaggerate, it's simply a method of conveying the importance of a situation to others. They want you to feel their outrage, too.
How to approach:
Approach with extreme caution. Keep your verbal interactions sincere and to the point. Don't exaggerate as they don't like that behavior in others.
Tips and solutions:
Reiterating situations to them is of utmost importance. Reframe what they've said to you in a customer service conversation. They want to know you're listening. Make sure you acknowledge their feelings. Do NOT call them an exaggerator.
Apologize and ask how you can remedy the situation. Usually they just want to be heard and apologized to.
The Excessive Returner
This customer buys something, maybe uses it, and then returns it... over and over (borderline fraud). Sometimes they just can't commit.
How to approach:
Show them documented policies and be direct in telling them they are abusing it. Post, explain and adjust your return policy if needed.
Tips and solutions:
A manager or person of authority will need to reiterate the policy. If this behavior continues, the business may need to ask them not to "return," so to speak. As this may be fraudulent behaviour it is usually in the interest of the business to fire this client. Be sure to DOCUMENT.
Pro Tip:
Include your return policy on receipts and
invoices.
The False Reviewer
This is a person who either had no interaction with your business, or is someone reposting another person's review (often a friend or family member). These fakers tend to troll around together and enjoy posting slander online.
How to approach:
Approaching the False Reviewer is difficult as they tend to hide behind a social reviewing platform. You may have never had an interaction with this person, and it's unlikely you will in the future.
Tips and solutions:
Flag the false review on the original site and ask for it to be investigated. You can also post back "False Reviewer." Often you can flag these posts as duplicates.
The Non-Customer
The Non-Customer is someone who has had no interaction with your business. Sometimes they are simply posting about the wrong place.
How to approach:
Approaching the non-customer is difficult as they tend to hide behind review sites. You may never have had an interaction with this person. You can simply post "I think you are reviewing the wrong business."
Tips and solutions:
Flag the false review on the social media or review site and ask them to investigate. You can also post back "Not a client of ours." Reply to the original post informing them you have no record of their business and believe they may be mistaken. It is okay to point out they are not a customer. After all, their review can bring down your rating.
The Non-Payer
Isn't this client the best?!? You totally started your business to give stuff away for free and waste your time with collections. They've avoided payment, bounced a check, or have written to their credit card company and declared fraud.
How to approach:
Be courteous and act as though they forgot and then get firmer. Request payment and remind them that your company relies on their payment to pay employees. Be kind and don’t scare them off. They're awful.
Tips and solutions:
You may need to fire them as a client if other attempts to collect fail. Remember your mantra: Document, Document. Collections companies need records of interactions.
Pro tip:
Good collections agencies will take money from
what they regain (vs payment upfront).
The Spammer
Like an internet troll, the Spammer will post things for attention, or have malicous objectives (e.g. spreading malware, phishing,etc.). They are not clients. They may be employed to do this, or are simply bored.
How to approach:
Approaching the Spammer is difficult as they hide behind social review platforms. You never truly had an interaction with this person, or robot, and it's unlikely you will in the future. Can you really have a relationship with spam, other than eating it?
Tips and solutions:
Flag the false review on the original site and ask for it to be investigated. You can also post back "False Reviewer." Often you can flag these posts as duplicates.
Pro tip:
You can have other people flag Spam on social media review sites. Their AI tends to light up and remove Spam if multiple people flag it, not just you.
