Types of Customers

Your week's topic objective.

A short introduction to your week's topic.

Types of Customers

1. Potential customer – The Potential Paul

The Potential Paul is a type of customer that is on the very beginning of your sales funnel. Technically, Paul is not your customer yet. However, you should give them the full treatment and hopefully change that quickly.

Potential Paul is a lead that needs nurturing and warming up before making a buying decision. He already showed some interest in your business, either by filling out a contact form, signing up for a newsletter or asking a question via your live chat tool (doesn’t have one? no worries, you can test LiveChat for free).

That piece of interest is what separates Paul from other website visitors. You can use that spark of interest to convert him into a paying customer. It’s much more effective than carpet bombing all website visitors with offers.

How to deal with Potential Paul:

• • Show him value: You can capitalize on his interest by clearly showing him what he can get from your product. You can do this yourself or point him to a resource like a landing page or a case study that will do it for you.

  • Reveal yourself: Make sure to let the potential customer know that they can ask for help or advice at any time. Even if the customer won’t need it immediately, they will appreciate the offer.

2. New customer – New Neil

New Neil is the fresh customer that just bought something from you. He is still learning the ropes of using your product. You need to do everything in your power to make that adoption period smooth.

Even though you already made a sale, you can’t leave Neil without any help. If he won’t receive it, he may not find much success with your product. The time you save by not helping Neil will be less valuable than the future business he may bring.

You can make sure that doesn’t happen with a proper user onboarding. After someone buys your product, you need to guide them and show them how to use it.

How to deal with New Neil:

• • Guide them to success: You can earn a long-lasting customer by investing a bit of your time into explaining how your product works and making sure the new customer knows how to use it. You can do that with a proper onboarding process.

  • Leave a contact option open: Even if you offer an automated onboarding to customers, have a live customer service option available. It will go a long way in situations when a customer has a question that’s not covered in the onboarding.

3. Impulsive Customer – Impulsive Iggy

This is the type of customer that can make a buying decision in an instant, provided that the conditions are right.

You see, Iggy doesn’t need much convincing to make a purchase. You don’t need to warm this lead up with value proposition too much.

What Iggy needs to buy something is a clear and easy way to do that. The less steps involved, the higher chances that a customer like Iggy will make a purchase.

Clear the way for Iggy and get rid of any distraction he may face to make sure you’re not wasting that buying impulse when it comes.

How to deal with Impulsive Iggy:

• • Clear the way to checkout: Make sure nobody needs a manual to make a purchase on your website. The less clicks and information needed to make a purchase, the better.

  • Quick and concise help: If you get a question from Iggy, make the answer short. Stick to the brass tacks. You also need to provide the response quickly. If you take too long, the buying impulse will fade and Iggy will leave your website.

4. Discount customer – Discount Dan

Discount Dan is the type of customer that sees value in your product but won’t buy it at full price. Upselling your product to Dan is nearly impossible.

Dan is usually looking for some extra information on the exact conditions of the deal or discount you are offering. You can help him by explaining the deal and what he needs to do to use it.

Once the deal runs out, it’s hard to keep Dan as a customer. If you are offering a service at a discounted price, Dan will usually leave once the discount stops applying. To increase your chances of keeping Dan as a customer, you need to show him that he is not only getting a product at a discount, but he also gets amazing customer service bundled with his purchase.

You need to provide added value that will make Dan think twice before switching to another company.

How to deal with Discount Dan:

• • Explain the deal: Provide all the necessary details about the deal to avoid any confusion. Dan may also require help with entering a discount code or using a coupon so make sure your team knows the deal’s details.

  • Offer added value: To make sure Dan continues being one of your customers, you need to go beyond your initial offering. Add the cherry on top of the deal. Something that they can’t get elsewhere. Stellar customer service can be one of such advantages that will help you keep Dan as a customer.

5. Loyal customer – Loyal Larry

This type of customers keeps coming back for more. Apart from having a significant impact on your revenue, Larry will be also your brand’s ambassador.

Larry and customers like him help you grow through word of mouth. He will recommend your business or product to his friends and family, sending a healthy stream of new customers your way.

You should try to leverage his experience and learn what makes him so satisfied with your business. When you have the chance, ask Larry which aspect of your product or business he likes the most. Take note and try to replicate that experience so that other customers can become your brand ambassadors.

How to deal with Loyal Larry

• • Give him a platform: You can help Larry spread the love and feature him in a case study. A bit of social proof like that will make your landing pages much more appealing to potential customers.

  • Learn from his experience: See what turned Larry into a loyal follower and make sure that happens more often with other customers.

  • Don’t mess it up: Whatever you do, make sure that Larry stays excited about your product and business.

A list of activities you want your students to do for the week's topic. You can choose to make a table that has a column for activity/task, location (i.e. where to submit completed activity), and due date.

A list of assessments (for the activities) and the points for each. You can choose to make a table that has a column for the assessment and another column for the point value. The assessment text in the table can also be hyperlinked to a rubric document.

• • A list of additional resources/links related to the week's topic for the students' reference or for extension.