The well-known business concept of a buyer persona or ideal client avatar can be useful but it can also be slightly misleading. You can’t reduce hundreds and thousands of people into one profile. Different people have different needs to be met depending on their personality, how they make a purchase decision and the stage they’re at in the customer journey (i.e. have they just come across your business or are they a repeat customer?) On top of that, people can move between customer categories, from potential to new to loyal, for example.
So how do you create successful customer relationships? Especially when, as a small business, your customer base can sporadically skyrocket from a few dozen to a few hundred to a few thousand.
Building strong relationships with so many people feels less overwhelming when you identify the different types of customers most businesses service and what those customers need from you. Profiling customer types allows you to personalize customer support on a large scale. Tailoring your responses and customer experience strategies massively pays off as 80% of customers are more likely to buy from a brand that offers personalization.
So, let’s get into it—what kind of customers are you servicing and what are their customer needs?
8 Types of Customers Explained and How to Approach Them
1. The Potential Customer
Let’s start at the beginning with people who have come across your business, could benefit from your product, and are showing interest. They are near the top of your sales funnel because while they aren’t just casual website visitors, their interest in your business is yet to get them over the line of actually buying your product.
How to approach potential customers?
Your priority here is to keep them engaged with your business until they are ready to make a buying decision as well as to speed up that decision. Work on the user experience of your marketing channels like social media and website pages. For example, is the pop-up on the landing page for a specific product useful or a distraction? Your value proposition should be clear in order to make buying from you irresistible.
2. The Unsure Customer
To buy or not to buy—that is the question these people are debating. They’re stuck trying to make a buying decision. They could go either way. With a strategic approach, you can get them over the line despite the concerns that are keeping them in limbo.
How to approach unsure customers?
Unsure customers are confused about what they should do. They don’t know if buying your product is the right move for them—so it’s your job to convince them it is. Your landing page and other marketing efforts should convey why they need your product. Double down on your unique selling proposition (USP) and the unique benefits you offer that they won’t get anywhere else. Use testimonials and case studies to prove your point and demonstrate the transformation they can achieve if they say yes.
Excellent customer service is one of the benefits unsure customers will be looking for. Get this started before they even buy. Make it clear how they can contact you to get any questions answered such as a live chat or chatbot. Do everything possible to make the purchase decision simple. Make your product an easy yes.
3. The New Customer
Moving onto post-purchase customer segments, first-time buyers have decided to give your product a go. The good news is that they are very engaged with your business because your product is new and exciting. The area of concern is that the jury is still out on whether your product is worth it. Maximize the initial engagement and turn them into raving fans.
How to approach new customers?
Their specific need is education on how to make the most of your product. It’s time to woo them with a warm welcome email sequence that shares all the information they need to succeed with the product and how to reach out for customer support if they need it. Don’t hesitate to send out a customer satisfaction survey during this initial period to see how they’re doing and what else you can do to make onboarding even smoother.
4. The Angry Customer
This is the type of customer you dread the most. They’ve purchased from your business but they’re not happy with their experience. Unhappy customers are inevitable no matter what you do so you need a strategy for handling them.
How to approach angry customers?
The sooner you can intervene, the better. Not every unhappy customer will go straight to the customer service team to complain. So monitor customer satisfaction through automated surveys, tracking actions like cancellations, and keeping an eye on social media complaints. Then take action.
Kill them with kindness by maintaining professionalism even in the face of anger. Apologizing and empathizing can go a long way. Offer support by fixing problems where you can and enabling them to fulfill the need that motivated them to buy in the first place. The resolution might be offering a refund or replacement. Either way, go above and beyond to make it up to them because winning over angry customers can turn them into your best customers.
5. The Need-Based Customer
This customer isn’t as interested in your business as they are interested in getting their needs met. They have a problem and they want a solution. They don’t really care who from because they aren’t really influenced by emotions, at least to begin with. So you need to turn this exchange into a relationship to increase customer loyalty.
How to approach need-based customers?
First, to get sales from need-based customers, it should be obvious that your product meets their needs and is easy to buy. Fulfill their priority. Then once they’ve become a customer, you can work on building a real relationship with them through personable interactions. You can’t upsell or retain them unless they have an emotional connection to the business. Excellent customer service is your best shot at creating loyalty to your business above your competitors.
6. The Discount Customer
Now everyone loves a discount but this type of customer pretty much refuses to buy anything at full price. So you can draw them in with a sale but retaining them is a bit of a battle. It is a battle you can win, though.
How to approach discount customers?
Start by successfully selling to bargain hunters. Promote the sale through your marketing efforts and make sure that the checkout process is smooth. For example, the coupon code field should be easy to find.
Once they’re in, it’s time to prove your worth. They’ll be reluctant to stay when you’re not offering them your lowest price. While they’re enjoying their discount, offer a service experience that they want to hold onto even at full price. Attentive customer support that helps them to achieve success with your product is vital here.
7. The Impulsive Customer
These people are pretty much the complete opposite of the discount customer. While bargain hunters are driven by the thrill of researching the best deal, impulse buyers don’t think that much about their purchase decision. They are driven by emotion and will jump on product recommendations immediately.
How to approach impulsive customers?
There’s a quick turnover with this type of customer. They don’t want to read long sales pages explaining in detail why they should buy your product. They’re not looking for anything in particular so there isn’t a specific need to be met. They’re looking for quick and concise incentives so they can make an instant decision.
Remove any obstacles in the buying process like checkout taking too long because it’s all about immediacy. Add to the urgency by offering time-limited deals and upsells. Retention is possible in this customer segment if you promote time-limited offers that they can jump on in your email newsletter and/or other marketing efforts. Visible incentives draw them again and again.
8. The Loyal Customer
The best customers are your loyal customers because they buy from your business time after time. They love your business to the point where they’ll make referrals. It would be a mistake to take them for granted.
How to approach loyal customers?
Your relationship is already strong. Continue the give and take. Celebrate their success by sharing their story through case studies. You put them in the spotlight which is particularly powerful for B2B businesses and you get social proof for your product—win-win. Offer a loyalty program to reward their repeat purchases and encourage them to stay loyal. Whether you’re offering discounts or bonuses, you’ll get a payoff.
Ask for feedback. Understanding your customer’s perspective is essential to continuing to meet their needs. Repeat customers will have great insights into your business so give them a chance to voice their opinions and act on any areas for improvement they bring up. Then any positive feedback can be turned into testimonials (more social proof). Finally, thank them and create incentives to refer through a referral program. Customers should be rewarded for getting you more customers. Your relationship with your loyal customers can be the most profitable with the right strategies.
How to Deal With Increasing Numbers of Customers?
Now that you know the type of people you’re serving pre- and post-purchase, you can create different strategies for each of them. Implement your strategies through automated marketing campaigns and by training your customer reps. Track the success of your strategies, collecting customer feedback at key touch points so you can refine what you’re doing to win over and retain all types of customers.
Understanding the varying needs of a large customer base isn’t the only challenge growing businesses face. It’s overwhelming to handle an unpredictably rising number of customers. Do you hire and expand your team to deal with this increase? You’re at risk of over-hiring in response to a spike in sales that will drop as quickly as it jumped. That’s a messy situation no business owner wants to be in.
The most flexible solution to adapting to increasing numbers of customers is implementing digital tools. Avoid having to recruit and train new employees that you might not be able to afford in a few months by managing your workload through digital tools.
Here at Podium, we have a set of digital tools for customer management and business growth. Automate customer interactions with our text marketing service and modern phone system. Improve your online presence with our review tools. Track your competitors on our dashboard. Set your growing business up for success with Podium.
