11 Types of customers and how to win them over

A customer’s journey begins much before they become your customers. If you wish to grow a loyal customer base, you need to understand how to deal with different types of customers.

You can categorize the different types of customers by identifying the specific needs of each potential customer or customer segment. Search for your brand on review websites or social media. You’ll get a bunch of different reviews & reactions to your products and services from customers. Now map these real-time insights to the customer data collected in the last 6 months, and you might spot some patterns. 

These patterns will help you find answers to:

• How often do customers buy from you? 

• What are your customers saying about your product on public forums? 

• Are your customers happy with your customer service?

These answers will help you understand your average customer’s needs and identify bottlenecks that may negatively impact purchase decisions.

Why should you identify the different types of customers? 

There are two primary reasons you need to define your customer segments:

1. Prioritize high-value customers:

It’s your responsibility to deliver seamless customer experiences and good customer service for every customer. But, you will always have a pool of loyal customers, who have made high-value purchases, and continue to bring in more business through referrals . Identifying different types of customers helps you serve them based on their needs and relationship with your business. When you prioritize repeat customers , you deliver an elevated experience for them to grow your loyal customer base and improve customer lifetime value (CLV).

2. Personalize customer experiences:

One solution does not answer all your customers’ problems. Every customer has different needs at different stages of the customer journey. So the tactics you use to serve and win them over should be different . Understanding what kind of customer you are dealing with helps you personalize your marketing strategy and get a prospect’s attention by addressing specific needs. You can even personalize customer journeys and use them as an opportunity to upsell a specific product to a need-based customer who is willing to spend more.

Now that we have realized the importance of creating customer segments, it’s important to customize conversations based on the kind of customers you interact with. Next, we help you identify the different types of customers you may encounter and suggest ways for you to win them over.

Identifying 11 different Types of customers

The three teams that usually deal directly or indirectly with customers are customer support , sales, and marketing. Sales and marketing professionals interact with customers at different stages of their buyer journey. Once customers complete their purchase, customer support teams become the primary point of contact. These 3 teams encounter different types of customers since customer expectations differ at different stages of the customer journey.

A. Sales and marketing

Let’s start with the different types of customers your sales and marketing teams usually encounter.

#1 Free customers

This type of customer believes in giving your product or service a trial run before deciding whether it’s worth the money. Some examples are users who sign up for free versions of a product/service or only use open-source software.

Personality traits

• Eager to test new products

• Cost-conscious

Strategy to Win them over

Free users include potential customers and people who are merely looking around and not interested in making an actual purchase . Being able to distinguish between these types of customers is the first task for your marketing and sales teams to prioritize and offer personalized solutions to close a purchase.

The next step is to use the right pricing to entice free users to upgrade to paid plans. You can even propose a limited period lowest-price offer by shifting a feature or two from the free program to the paid plan, converting more users to become paying customers.

Here’s a great example of an email campaign targeting free users using a limited-time offer before a price increase.

#2 New customers

These customers are buying from you for the first time. They’ve come to you either because of your marketing efforts or peer recommendations. Making a good first impression is important because it validates why they chose your company. 

Personality traits

• Expect quality products/services

• Uncertain about purchasing from your brand

Strategy to Win them over

The key to making an excellent first impression is to explain the value of choosing your product or service offering and then following that up with delivering that value. You need to identify your customer needs and convince them that your product can solve their most pressing problems.

You should also ensure these customers undergo a smooth onboarding process and receive additional resources like company stories , policies, product tutorials , etc., to make the most of their purchase. Since new customers may have additional questions, you can deploy a chatbot to engage with them and help them with any resources they may need.

Here’s how Amazon ensures a seamless journey for its new customers by answering all their questions through its FAQ page .

#3 Bargain hunters

Bargain hunters or discount customers are the most difficult to negotiate. They are always looking for a cut-price deal. Most of their purchase decisions are influenced by cost-effective offers . 

Personality traits

• Price hagglers

• Hard negotiators

Strategy to Win them over

There are a couple of ways to hook even the hardest bargainer. While this might seem like a problematic type of customer, bargain hunters provide an excellent opportunity to flex your marketing and sales team’s creativity in converting these customers. 

Entice them to buy a plan that ties them down to a more extended period if you offer a subscription model. Make them see more value in a lower-cost annual subscription plan than a monthly one. This guarantees you a higher LTV and a revenue stream.

#4 Informed customers

Informed buyers are comprehensive researchers. They will have checked out your products/services on apps and read online reviews that mention you and your competitors. They come prepared and armed with extensive knowledge before entering a store or talking to a sales representative. If your product is not in their consideration, set it as a herculean task to make them even glance your way.

Personality traits

• Detail-oriented

• Thorough and methodical

Strategy to win them over

When negotiating or trying to pitch a sale to this type of customer, you’ll have to be as thorough as they are. The best way to win over a highly informed customer is to have subject matter experts vouch for your product or services. While these buyers might be familiar with essential details of your offering, a deeper understanding of your domain convinces them that you know what you are talking about.

For example, if someone wants to buy an Android phone, they may have visited company websites and read reviews online. Still, an informed sales personnel at the checkout counter or the presence of a detailed page highlighting technical specifications on your e-commerce portal will shorten their checkout journey and close the deal.

#5 Impulse customers

Impulse buying in the digital and physical world is an intriguing psychological concept. Companies have tried to take advantage of it through various schemes and techniques. Here’s how it works: the impulse buyer always makes unplanned purchases triggered by sudden, unpredictable urges or needs. But sometimes, they may need a small push to trigger that impulse.

Personality traits

• High willingness to pay

• Consumerist mindset

• Easily influenced

Strategy to win them over

Marketing teams play a significant role in getting impulse buyers to purchase items on a whim. Flash sales and limited-time offers are two prevalent and effective impulse triggers. Brand campaigns that guarantee the lowest price on certain days and offer seasonal discounts are a few of the mainstream triggers.

You can use the popular discount strategy that incentivizes a purchase by promising a discount on certain items during the customer’s next visit. Another one is the buy 2 for the price of 1 offer, where brands can secure the full price of the product that’s priced higher. You’ll come across these both in stores and online shopping.

B. Customer service

Now let’s understand the types of customers based on post-purchase interactions with customer support agents. We have also suggested ways to deal with these customers.

#6 loyal customers

Sales and support reps play an equal ly important role in building a loyal customer base . Loyal customers are the types you know and love as your quintessential repeat customers . Your brand is their first choice when buying a product or service in your industry. You’ve gained customer loyalty by providing good customer service and delivering great value through your offerings.

Personality traits

• Preference for Quality

• Consistent shoppers

• Repetitive & Habituated

Retention strategy

Remember, your brand is only as good as the last experience it delivers to its customers. The number of choices consumers have today is the highest it’s ever been. This makes it even harder to retain them. What matters to your loyal customers is how you handle them after they’ve become your customers. Customer experience matters every step of the way. You need to nurture these relationships by keeping them up to date with new launches or upcoming features.

If the customer has a higher share of wallet, you can assign dedicated relationship managers/ customer success representatives to ensure they get the attention they are paying for. Appreciate your customers for their valuable time and faith in your brand. You can even ask them for their feature in case studies, customer stories , or testimonials. This helps you to improve your brand image and build your credibility .

Here’s how JetBlue endorses its loyalty program to grow its base of loyal customers.

#7 Brand advocates

These are your best customers because they are thrilled with your services. They rarely give negative reviews because your company has exceeded all their service expectations. 

Personality traits

• Friendly and polite

• Understanding

Retention Strategy

Do what you’re doing to keep them happy. Prioritize them and keep providing excellent customer service. They are your brand advocates, so you must do everything in your power to satisfy their requests. You may even go the extra mile and send them extra credit or goodies every time they refer your product or service to appreciate them for their effort.

You may inform them of the upcoming seasonal discounts and invite them for exclusive previews and demo showcases for being loyal to your brand. You may even onboard them to your affiliate program so they can earn credits while referring other buyers to purchase from your brand. This is a good strategy to encourage loyal customers to become brand advocates.

#8 Curious customers

These are customers who always have a lot of questions for your support team. Either because they are new to the product or because they just require a lot of assistance in general. You’ll see that most of their questions are basic or informational and can get repetitive.

Personality traits

• Need constant help

• Ask fundamental questions

How to deal with this type of customer

When dealing with curious customers, patience is key. Train your agents to listen to customer queries and respond with elaborate answers that give them all the necessary information. You can also take the opportunity to record some of the more frequently asked questions and build a knowledge base.

You can create solution articles, build an FAQ portal and deploy a chatbot for customers to find answers to basic questions directly from your website without the need to reach out to your team every time. This reduces the workload for your customer support team and gives them room to prioritize and attend to complex customer issues.

#9 Demanding customers

This type of customer should not be confused with unhappy customers. Demanding customers expect the best customer service every time they interact with your brand . Your support team will always have to be on their toes when dealing with this type of customer. Suppose your level of service falls below their expectations. In that case, they might not give you a second chance and share their poor experience to others on social media, impacting your business.

Personality traits:

• Impatient

• High expectations

How to deal with this type of customer

The best way to handle demanding customers is to:

• Work on a request-to-request basis

• Provide the services they are looking for without any delays

It’s impossible to be perfect all the time but place them as high as possible on your priority list. However, do note that you may not be able to fulfill some demands, and you must communicate the same politely. Ensure you deliver a seamless customer experience to gain their trust and build a rapport with you.

#10 Angry customers

They are the most challenging type of customer to have a conversation with. They might have had a poor customer experience or weren’t satisfied with the quality of products or services. They may be disgruntled because of long wait times or having to call customer service only to be put on hold.

Personality traits

• Unhappy

• Frustrated

How to deal with this type of customer

You’ll have to tread carefully when interacting with disgruntled customers. One misstep and they might leave or talk about their negative experience on social media. And that is the last thing you want. Here’s where customer empathy becomes an essential skill for your agents. You have to put yourself in their shoes and understand where they’re coming from.

Once you have realized the origin of their dissatisfaction with your brand, craft a personalized and meaningful apology. Follow it up with the reassurance that their problem will be solved at the earliest. Take action swiftly to fix the problem and let them know as soon as it’s taken care of. You may thank them for their feedback and show appreciation by giving them extra credit for their next purchase or upgrading their subscription model for the next month at no extra cost.

Here’s an example by Zappos on how an email communication to an angry customer looks like:

#11 unpredictable customer

This type of customer doesn’t fall into any category because it’s difficult to interpret their behavior. They don’t give away what they feel about your service or your products. This could be because they don’t have the time and see it as a purely transactional conversation. Not being able to figure out what kind of customer they are can be a problem, especially when it comes to feedback. You will not be able to gauge what interests them or makes them happy. Imagine getting neutral responses every time. They may even be unhappy, but their responses don’t reflect the same in customer surveys.

Personality traits

• Unknown

How to deal with this type of customer

You can try different surveying techniques apart from measuring customer satisfaction. One such metric, Customer effort score or CES, measures how easy or difficult a service interaction is for the customer. Unlike the CSAT survey , this gives a holistic picture of the experience and can help you understand this type of customer better.

Personalized customer experience is key to customer retention.

We hope that our suggestions to deal with different types of customers come in handy for your sales, marketing, and customer support teams. Remember, analyzing your customer data for emerging trends should be a daily exercise. Companies like Amazon, Zappos, and JetBlue have been built on the concept of customer obsession. While this approach may not seem easy, building a strategy based on customer segments is the key to customer retention.

Updated on Sep 02, 2022.