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I'm sure you all know "that" customer...

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We have a black list of customers we won't take bookings from. We never have the availabilty when they ask. They live blissfully unaware that we don't want their business, they just think that we are really busy and can't fit them in. It not something we are really comforable with but over the years we have decided not to put up with 'bad' customers. The do more harm than good. They frustrate you, take up too much of your time and ultimatley they are not loyal to you as a business - they are loyal to people that put up with them.
While your dealing with 'bad' customers you will miss the chance to get new 'good' customers. One of the biggest pluses that comes with being self employed is CHOICE.
I realise that in some businesses its not easy to 'black list' customers say retail and restaurants. However some people are only happy when they are complaining. Leave them to it.
 
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Scot Copy, you clearly don't work in an environment where customers are on your premises face to face each and every minute of the day. Whilst I would agree with you that retailers cannot be outwardly rude to people they dislike you need to understand the true psychology of this situation. The PITA customers are inevitably so wrapped up in themselves and their own opinions that they probably wouldn't notice if we hit them with a brick. They certainly don't notice us being "rudely nice" to them. If they did they wouldn't keep returning.

Like it says in A&E however, we don't put up with our staff being abused, customers who do so will be asked to leave. No-one spends enough to be rude to me, my partner or my staff.
 
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cts1975 said:
We have a black list of customers we won't take bookings from. We never have the availabilty when they ask. They live blissfully unaware that we don't want their business, they just think that we are really busy and can't fit them in. It not something we are really comforable with but over the years we have decided not to put up with 'bad' customers.
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No offence but why not just tell them you don't want their business instead of wasting time lying to them about your bookings?

You either enjoy it, or you haven't got the balls to tell them. Either way it's all a bit passive aggressive. You're having to put up with them ringing you time after time when you say you won't put up with bad customers.
 
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mhall said:
We don't mind anyone not buying, although it is rare, we will happily chat or not, as the person wishes, but we know what the phrase means. We would rather they give us some form of feedback - it is the customer equivalent of a member of staff saying "Can I help you?"

We will gladly send you to a competitor if that is better for you, we will help you with your inspiration because that is what a good Retailer does - we are not desperate for the sale. We know that if we are nice you will come back at some point. The trouble is everyone is so guarded and assumes we are going to jump down their throat. PLEASE TALK TO US, we are NICE people and we are not going to pick pocket you or force you to buy something that is wrong for you or out of your budget. That said, we will help you to buy, because we are good at it, but you won't regret it.
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This goes hand in hand with the rude-ass customers whose only reply to "Morning!" is "I'M ONLY LOOKING".
 
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internetspaceships said:
No offence but why not just tell them you don't want their business instead of wasting time lying to them about your bookings?

You either enjoy it, or you haven't got the balls to tell them. Either way it's all a bit passive aggressive. You're having to put up with them ringing you time after time when you say you won't put up with bad customers.
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Currently that customer could be singing their praises but grumbling about availability (which is good advertising in itself). Once they are told their custom is not wanted, it's pretty much guaranteed they will switch to bad-mouthing the place.
 
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mhall said:
We don't mind anyone not buying, although it is rare, we will happily chat or not, as the person wishes, but we know what the phrase means. We would rather they give us some form of feedback - it is the customer equivalent of a member of staff saying "Can I help you?"

We will gladly send you to a competitor if that is better for you, we will help you with your inspiration because that is what a good Retailer does - we are not desperate for the sale. We know that if we are nice you will come back at some point. The trouble is everyone is so guarded and assumes we are going to jump down their throat. PLEASE TALK TO US, we are NICE people and we are not going to pick pocket you or force you to buy something that is wrong for you or out of your budget. That said, we will help you to buy, because we are good at it, but you won't regret it.
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I agree that browsers are handy people...you never know who they will tell about something they've seen, even if they don't buy it themselves.

Also agree that an empty shop with an anxious-looking shopkeeper can be intimidating, and certainly we tend to attract more customers when there are already customers in the shop. To this end, I ask the staff to always be visible and active at the front of the shop so it looks/feels like it's 'safe' for people to come in and browse.

We've also been experimenting with different greetings and acknowledgments - not wanting to pounce, but wanting to let people know we are there if they do want help. The question that gets the best results by far is, "Are you happy just browsing?" It's such a safe question...people can answer yes and know that it's OK to browse, or if they say no it's because they are looking for something specific and we can help them immediately.

What are your most successful ways to engage customers without them feeling they are under pressure to buy?
 
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AliG said:
I agree that browsers are handy people...you never know who they will tell about something they've seen, even if they don't buy it themselves.

Also agree that an empty shop with an anxious-looking shopkeeper can be intimidating, and certainly we tend to attract more customers when there are already customers in the shop. To this end, I ask the staff to always be visible and active at the front of the shop so it looks/feels like it's 'safe' for people to come in and browse.

We've also been experimenting with different greetings and acknowledgments - not wanting to pounce, but wanting to let people know we are there if they do want help. The question that gets the best results by far is, "Are you happy just browsing?" It's such a safe question...people can answer yes and know that it's OK to browse, or if they say no it's because they are looking for something specific and we can help them immediately.

What are your most successful ways to engage customers without them feeling they are under pressure to buy?
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Yes, it's a tricky one when there are no other customers in the shop. Firstly, we always have the door open come rain or shine - which I think is more inviting. We have a tv which is usually set to either a cooking channel (we're a cookshop) or BBC news - which makes a good background, as there's nothing worse than silence in an empty shop.

I greet everyone with 'hi there, can I help, or are you happy browsing?' If the answer is 'just browsing' then I usually say 'well, just shout if you need any help'.

I never sit doing nothing in silence either - as I think that can be intimidating. I'm usually busy with files and paperwork, re-ordering stuff or tidying bits and pieces.

As we are a cookshop and have a demo Rayburn, we'll often just fire it up and cook something random - which creates interest - especially on a Saturday morning. Anything to give a bit of a buzz helps :)
 
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Because most of the products we sell actually need a bit of explaining, we have a simple flexible script

1st question (after initial friendly greeting)

Have you been in before? - simple yes or no question

If No: Have you used XXXX before? - again simple Yes or No
If Yes: Well, you know what you are doing then, give me a shout if you need a hand

If No to the second question: Well, I'll give you our ten second explanation and then leave you to shout up if you need any help - give explanation and then ask for any questions, if none- "i'll leave you alone then, I'm here if you need me"

Luckily for us, it is very obvious if people are not telling us the truth by the way they look at and hold the product, in which case we have our fall back "this is our special/new/best/favourite at the moment, but take your time, I'm here if you need me"

If we get the "I'm just looking" comment, it's usually because they haven't heard what we actually said, in which case we go down the route of "That's ok, looking is free, we only charge for heating" - which usually raises a smile. If they are grumpy about that we, quite frankly, don't want them as customers.
 
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Customer comes in this morning and spots our 'wasp catchers' - coloured glass containers with a cork in the top and an opening underneath where you can put jam/honey/beer or whatever, to attract wasps and then they get trapped inside.

She says 'I've got one of those and it's full of decomposing wasps and utterly disgusting. How would you suggest I clean it?' I said 'probably best to wash it out with hot water and maybe use a bottle brush to shoosh it around a bit'

Her response: 'would you do it for me?'

I like to think she was only joking...
 
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AliG said:
We've also been experimenting with different greetings and acknowledgments - not wanting to pounce, but wanting to let people know we are there if they do want help. The question that gets the best results by far is, "Are you happy just browsing?" It's such a safe question...people can answer yes and know that it's OK to browse, or if they say no it's because they are looking for something specific and we can help them immediately.

What are your most successful ways to engage customers without them feeling they are under pressure to buy?
Click to expand...

Very interested in this as it is an issue I find a problem in my own shop. I've always had a policy that staff should never say 'Can/May I help you' as many customers (including myself when in other shops) experience this as an attempt to make the customer buy something or get out. I've discovered over the years that a couple at least of my staff found it very difficult not to say this. They hated not saying something to customers (after a general greeting as the customer came in) and seemed to fall back on this as a formula rather than being able to think up something appropriate to the situation. I have no trouble with this issue of how to talk to customers (or indeed of how not to talk to them), for example if someone seems to have been hunting around for a while I'll say something along the lines of are you just enjoying browsing or are you looking for something specific/hunting for something you can't find. Probably 60% of people will say they are just having a nice browse and 40% will reveal with some relief that they are looking for x, y or z or that they simply don't know what to buy for example for their 16 year old niece and do I think this particular item is suitable (generally speaking it is not and with a bit of luck I can guide them to something that the 16 year old might not immediately hide at the back of a cupboard).

I've learned however over the years that many otherwise excellent staff are just not good at 'reading' customer behaviour nor with coming up with suitable things to say in response and they really want and need some sort of formula.

Just at present I've acquired a number of young people who've asked to work in a volunteer role. Their ages are between 18 and 22 and they encompass sixth form/local college students, just left schoolers, university students on vacation and unemployed graduates. With one exception (there's always one exception) they are remarkably poor at 'reading' customers and coming up with suitable things to say to them and are even more demanding of a formula than my much older staff have been. I've been struggling to come up with one - but I've got to in order to stop them falling back on 'Have a nice day'!
 
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Very interesting scenarios in "That" Customer...! Its almost as bad being screamed at like this as it is being totally ignored after photographing three consecutive wedding ceremonies for one couple, on 3 consecutive weekends, in three separate venues in two different countries, spending a whole month working on the resulting wedding files, preparing the chosen images, and designing a huge storybook album, then having had all the stages of the design approved, only to be told I'll check it all over the weekend and get back to you on Monday. Which Monday though?... three years later, still no joy! Disposable email and phone number too!!
 
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fairdealworld said:
Very interested in this as it is an issue I find a problem in my own shop. I've always had a policy that staff should never say 'Can/May I help you' as many customers (including myself when in other shops) experience this as an attempt to make the customer buy something or get out. I've discovered over the years that a couple at least of my staff found it very difficult not to say this. They hated not saying something to customers (after a general greeting as the customer came in) and seemed to fall back on this as a formula rather than being able to think up something appropriate to the situation. I have no trouble with this issue of how to talk to customers (or indeed of how not to talk to them), for example if someone seems to have been hunting around for a while I'll say something along the lines of are you just enjoying browsing or are you looking for something specific/hunting for something you can't find. Probably 60% of people will say they are just having a nice browse and 40% will reveal with some relief that they are looking for x, y or z or that they simply don't know what to buy for example for their 16 year old niece and do I think this particular item is suitable (generally speaking it is not and with a bit of luck I can guide them to something that the 16 year old might not immediately hide at the back of a cupboard).

I've learned however over the years that many otherwise excellent staff are just not good at 'reading' customer behaviour nor with coming up with suitable things to say in response and they really want and need some sort of formula.

Just at present I've acquired a number of young people who've asked to work in a volunteer role. Their ages are between 18 and 22 and they encompass sixth form/local college students, just left schoolers, university students on vacation and unemployed graduates. With one exception (there's always one exception) they are remarkably poor at 'reading' customers and coming up with suitable things to say to them and are even more demanding of a formula than my much older staff have been. I've been struggling to come up with one - but I've got to in order to stop them falling back on 'Have a nice day'!
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When we have new Saturday staff we encourage them to play our "Disney game" for the first few weeks. They get extra points if they get a Disney film title or song into a conversation with a customer. It encourages them to talk and have fun. Sometimes the customer catches on and plays along. Person with most points gets any product at 50% off at the end of the day. We have found even the most timid staff member enjoys it and it also means every member of staff becomes an instant member of the team and has a good laugh, whilst the customer gets spoken to nicely and in a conversational way. Mind you hubby had a wry smile when he heard us being referred to as Beauty and the Beast !
 
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I'm not a retailer, but from a copywriter's perspective, I would say something like "Would you like some help or are you happy browsing?" would work fairly well.

That builds on AliG's line but removes the word "just", as that could imply that the visitor is only browsing and not buying.
 
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Scott-CopyandDesign said:
I'm not a retailer, but from a copywriter's perspective, I would say something like "Would you like some help or are you happy browsing?" would work fairly well.

That builds on AliG's line but removes the word "just", as that could imply that the visitor is only browsing and not buying.
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Always better to ask indirect questions than direct, otherwise you ask would you like some help they say no then an awkward silence can happen.
 
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internetspaceships said:
No offence but why not just tell them you don't want their business instead of wasting time lying to them about your bookings?

You either enjoy it, or you haven't got the balls to tell them. Either way it's all a bit passive aggressive. You're having to put up with them ringing you time after time when you say you won't put up with bad customers.
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No I don't enjoy it. I also don't enjoy putting up with them. Why would I risk telling them - I'm pretty sure they would enjoy telling everybody they know which is not good PR. I'm not sure how its passive aggresive. It just down to choice really.
 
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ReelLifePhotos said:
Very interesting scenarios in "That" Customer...! Its almost as bad being screamed at like this as it is being totally ignored after photographing three consecutive wedding ceremonies for one couple, on 3 consecutive weekends, in three separate venues in two different countries, spending a whole month working on the resulting wedding files, preparing the chosen images, and designing a huge storybook album, then having had all the stages of the design approved, only to be told I'll check it all over the weekend and get back to you on Monday. Which Monday though?... three years later, still no joy! Disposable email and phone number too!!
Click to expand...

Did you have a deposit? Pay your own travel/accommodation?

Why 3 ceremonies in 3 venues? Sounds very dodgy.
 
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