Each contact with the client determines what he will finally judge as the quality of the service received. That is why it is so important to pay attention and adapt our customer service to what your needs require. Not all customers expect the same. In this article I will show you two customer profiles that require a different, almost opposite treatment.
We have spent the holidays at the end of the year gathering all the members of the family, who live scattered throughout different cities of the country. The meeting point was one of the many complexes of cabins in a beautiful mountain village in Córdoba.
Each cabin, like each house, has a different operation, and I would have liked someone to accompany me when I arrived to explain those details. Out of curiosity, I did a family survey asking if everyone had the same need. The answer surprised me. They all told me that they preferred that nobody get into their cabins, that they not invade them.
These are clearly two different customer profiles. On the one hand, my case, a client who wants a higher level of contact, and on the other, who prefers distance, but also demands efficiency. We could establish the extremes in: efficiency vs. Contact.
How to adapt the treatment to different customer profiles
Surely among your clients you have these two profiles. Clients who want more contact, details, information, interaction… and others who do not want to be invaded, prefer distance, privacy, and the least possible intervention on your part, as a service provider.
Therefore, if you want to satisfy both, you cannot treat them all equally. You must establish a personalized, differentiated customer treatment. This is a skill that you must develop in your customer contact staff.
However, both have to receive a high quality of service. Therefore, regardless of the treatment you provide, you must ensure that they receive the expected service 100%. In the cabins example, a possible solution would be to leave the basic operating instructions inside. It is general information that can serve all clients, and you send them to them even without having personal contact with them.
How to identify the different customer profiles
But of course, customers don't come with labels! Realize what can be a difficult task. Here are some ideas that can help you differentiate these customer profiles:
- Its cultural features. There are general features that are associated with different cultures. Saxons tend to be more distant, Latinos warmer. It is a first indication of your current circumstance. You will not give the same treatment to a passenger who stays for work as to someone who comes for tourism. The tourist usually likes a closer deal, in which you can transmit information about the place, tips on attractions to visit, etc. Visual clues. If you observe your clients well you can deduce their needs. Do you feel tired? You won't be talking too much, but rather helping him quickly go to his room to rest. The feedback you receive. If you cannot clearly identify their particular needs, try the solution that seems most suitable to you, and carefully observe their reaction. You offer him information;Is he interested and asks you for more… or thanks without any comment? Ask him directly. Interested in receiving information about local attractions? Would you like us to accompany you to your cabin to show you the general comforts and operation? Sometimes asking is the surest way to confirm your appreciation.
Don't think that this only applies to the hospitality industry. Make a parallel with your activity, and you will see that you also find these customer profiles. Adapt your service to each of them. Contact or distance, automation or personalization, efficiency or closeness…
