Is the Customer always right? / 5 Types of Customers and their needs

Analyzing the customer service and customers

There are as many different types of customer service jobs as there are industries. Some customer service representative jobs are strictly sales roles and concentrate on selling, up-selling, or generating leads. Others are informational, answering customer questions, updating customer profiles or accounts, or troubleshooting with a customer on the phone, by text, or virtual chatting. Customer service representatives are there to help the customer if they have a complaint, and provide the customer with a positive experience. Be advised that a customer need is a motive that prompts a customer to buy a product or service. Ultimately, the need is the driver of the customer's purchase decision. Companies often look at the customer need as an opportunity. A good customer service should be going above and beyond to keep the customers happy, whether that means answering any questions they may have or resolving issues with a positive attitude. Customer satisfaction is the top priority, and hopefully creating loyal, returning customer's. Its commonly said "The customer is always right", this is a motto or slogan which exhorts service staff to give a high priority to customer satisfaction which is also commonly argued that customer complaints should be taken seriously so that customers do not feel misled or deceived.

However the phrase: “The customer is always right, unfortunately, it's wrong and misleading. Clearly the customer is not always right. Customers make unreasonable requests and have unreasonable expectations. You can't give every customer what he or she asks for.

 From the point of view of the several industries existent, customer service plays an important role in an organization's ability to generate income and revenue. From that perspective, customer service should be included as part of an overall approach to systematic improvement.

One good customer service experience can change the entire perception a customer holds towards the organization. 

A poor customer service occurs due to several facts but the most important facts are, when the customers needs and expectation are not satisfied, the service lacks of organized planning to execute the customer service, absence of motivational skills, and when there is a lack of good communication skills in concern of product/service. To finalize, there is a difference between the terms-support and service. The term customer support is adequate for services that provide technical support, whereas the customer service department is focused on providing value for the customer.

Types of customers

1.Potential customer - Type of customer that is on the very beginning of your sales funnel. Technically, is not your customer yet. However, you should give them the full treatment and hopefully change that quickly.

2. New customer - The fresh customer that just bought something from you.

3. Impulsive Customer - This is the type of customer that can make a buying decision in an instant, provided that the conditions are right.

4. Discount customer - The type of customer that sees value in your product but won’t buy it at full price.

5. Loyal customer - This type of customers keeps coming back for more. Apart from having a significant impact on your revenue.

Most Common Types of Customer Needs

Functionality - Customers need your product or service to function the way they need in order to solve their problem or desire.

Price - Customers have unique budgets with which they can purchase a product or service.

Convenience - Your product or service needs to be a convenient solution to the function your customers are trying to meet.

Experience - The experience using your product or service needs to be easy -- or at least clear -- so as not to create more work for your customers.

Design - Along the lines of experience, the product or service needs a slick design to make it relatively easy and intuitive to use.

Reliability - The product or service needs to reliably function as advertised every time the customer wants to use it.

Performance - The product or service needs to perform correctly so the customer can achieve their goals.

Efficiency - The product or service needs to be efficient for the customer by streamlining an otherwise time-consuming process.

Compatibility - The product or service needs to be compatible with other products your customer is already using.

Empathy - When your customers get in touch with customer service, they want empathy and understanding from the people assisting them.

Fairness - From pricing to terms of service to contract length, customers expect fairness from a company.

Transparency - Customers expect transparency from a company they're doing business with. Service outages, pricing changes, and things breaking happen, and customers deserve openness from the businesses they give money to.

Control - Customers need to feel like they're in control of the business interaction from start to finish and beyond, and customer empowerment shouldn't end with the sale. Make it easy for them to return products, change subscriptions, adjust terms, etc.

Options - Customers need options when they're getting ready to make a purchase from a company. Offer a variety of product, subscription, and payment options to provide that freedom of choice.

Information - Customers need information, from the moment they start interacting with your brand to days and months after making a purchase. Business should invest in educational blog content, instructional knowledge base content, and regular communication so customers have the information they need to successfully use a product or service.
Learn more about your customers and start to create a pattern. Know Your Product or Service, be friendly. Train Your Staff, show respect, listen to your staff, be responsive, ask for feedback.

Jorge M. Correia

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/customer-always-right-5-types-customers-needs-jorge-correia/

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