CRAZY CUSTOMERS vs. good ones

Almost every job I've been involved with has dealt with the public. Sometimes this has been face to face and other times over the phone but it has always been in high volumes.

I've grown to look at the population like this:


* 25 percent of the public is very detailed oriented, friendly and polite. When they raise a concern or problem with service they will do it respectfully and calmly. Their point is resolution and it's not an ego trip. If you return their respect and show concern and action to their problems everything will be ok.

* 50 percent of the public does not really keep track of the services and goods they are spending their money on. They do not check their online banking statements, do not know the rates of their products, etc.. The majority of this group are again friendly and very easy going. They will sometimes call you out the blue because they are so surprised by the their past bills but again, most of them just want a fair resolution.

* 15 percent of the population also does not keep track of their financial situations but once they decide to they will call you up and act as if you've been scamming them. This is the most dangerous group because if your billing practices are not sound you both will really get an earful but also might issue a refund purely based on an angry client and not factual information.

* 10 percent of the public are just crazy! They are overly neurotic about every last detail but on top of that are irrational in your dealings with them. I would tread lightly around this contingent of the population. Those who do not value your product, try and get you to change your business plan to suit them and are emotionally draining, will in the long run lose you money.

As you can see in my look of the population, the majority of people / clients out there are wonderful, respectful people. That 10-15% of the public who are irrational can be very taxing to the point where you think everyone sucks and everyone is crazy! But I would recommend looking at things in percentages. Having a maximum allowed percentage of acceptable loss, of turnover, of crazy clients, etc., will help you visually see and control the culture of your company experience.