Five Types Of Individuals To Look Out For
08.23.2005 | Chris BaileyWhen it comes to creating a passionate custo/member experience, there will always be some who just don’t get it or don’t want it. From one perspective or another, they can be considered to be abusive. What’s one to do with these folks? I would suggest that they be given the boot. Not literally, but when it comes to devoting time, money, and spirit to building a faithful and enthusiastic custo/member base these folks need not enter into the equation. What types of folks should we be on the look out for? From a consultant perspective, Christopher Hawkins points out 11 types of clients to fire. Most of these sound familiar to those of us in association membership and equally familiar to those who perform any time of customer service work. Taking a cue from Christopher’s 11 types, here’s a related view of the kind of folks who need to get far less of our attention (or none at all):The Disillusioned. This is an individual who constantly expresses disappointment despite the fact that the product or service is of good quality and delivers on what was promised. Complaining is one thing, but this custo/member constantly looks for problems and only rarely offers appreciation. This is the person that sucks the joy from work and needs to be jettisoned as quickly as possible.
The Suspicious. This is an individual who doesn’t trust you or the organization. Yes, sometimes an association or business breaks it’s promise and deserves the accompanying suspicion from its custo/members. However, this type of person is something different: the Suspicious doesn’t trust your knowledge or expertise. Since our work is “so easy,” they assume they could do far better.
The Chiseler. Always a favorite of mine, this is the individual who is constantly on the lookout for a discount or a way to chip away at the price of membership or a service. Yes, it could be that the association or business is not marketing value well enough. However, we all have experienced the person who just won’t pay full price for anything. When it comes time to figure out what a custo/member is worth, this type of individual creates far more work than what they offer in return.
The Flake. Otherwise known as the Unaccountable, this custo/member is believes only side should be held to responsibility. More often than not, you’ll find volunteers and vendors who fit this mold. They’ll backtrack out of a commitment they made, but keep you forever accountable for your own commitments.
The Bully. I left the best for last. The bully seems to forget some of the basic tenents of humanity like “were all human.” That it’s okay to be abusive. That getting your way is the only way. If you come across a bully, quickly refund any money and politely let them know that you and your association or business can live without them. Trust me, you can.
If we apply a form of the Pareto Principle here, you can get caught up in working with this 20% (including the other nonvaluable) of your custo/members 80% of the time. Better to give them the boot and concentrate on the faithful, the passionate ones; those who genuinely love what you are doing and can’t wait to tell others about it. This is where the juice really is.
4 Responses to “Five Types Of Individuals To Look Out For”
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The trouble, Chris, is that in most cases, membership associations can’t boot their members without due process. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), being a pain in the @$$ customer doesn’t qualify a member for expulsion.
I would also challenge the usefulness of attempting to compartmentalize custo/members in this fashion. It’s never this simple. For example, I have worked with some brilliant and highly committed members who were among the best Chiselers you’d ever have the misfortune of meeting. These folks made their living selling commoditized products on razor-thin margins. But however stingy, they were always working for the advancement of the industry. A more holistic view of your custo/member is needed, wouldn’t you agree?
Ben, you know I always love a good debate with you
For those individuals who run businesses or consultancies, you certainly can be selective in who you work with and cut these individuals out. As for associations, I could take an opposite view that the Chiseler who is highly committed to the profession isn’t necessarily committed to the organization if they are constantly looking for ways to discount their dues. For me, there’s a big difference.
Also for associations, I understand your point about the fact that you can’t boot everyone who fits these admittedly general personality types. But who says you have to treat them equally? I believe that an ideal member is the one that helps move the profession and the organization forward. Since there is only so much retention and recruitment money and staff resources to go around, why not prioritize efforts to reward these ideal members and stop spending so much time placating Chiselers, working with Flakes, and dealing with the Suspicious (all of which probably will never be truly passionate members anyway)?
Thanks for the mention, Chris! I’m glad that you’re able to apply the bad client archetypes to membership issues.
Since I’m not in the membership business, I have to ask: don’t you typically have a Code of Conduct for members that would allow you to enact some form of discipline should they begin to be abusive in some of the ways described above? The Bully should be an easy one to take action against. The Disillusioned might be less cut and dried, but surely there is something you can do to modify the behavior of problem members?
I like how you’ve reversed the concept: REWARD the ideal members and SERVICE the other ones in a business-as-usual fashion. Everyone gets what they deserve.