We’ve all had those customers: they are chatty, they ask a lot of questions, they love to have a conversation, and they linger in our waiting room for a second or third cup of coffee. Although every customer should be important to us, these customers can take up a lot of our time. If they are the only customers you serve in the day, it isn’t a problem; they can take all day!
But they’re not the only customers you serve all day. And with many customers, ringing phones, online order fulfillment, plus the many other demands that we as business owners face, it can be easy to get frustrated and cut the conversation short too quickly.
It’s a “rock and a hard place” scenario: cut off the conversation and annoy this customer or let the conversation drag on and annoy the next customer.
Here are some ideas and things to think about:
- It is sometimes not in your interest to cut off the conversation: if the customer has never purchased the product or service before they may be curious, cautious, or even anxious about the purchase and need your assurances. In a case like this, you should spend as much time as possible with them. However, if there are other customers waiting, invite the first person to wait for a moment. Tell them that you are interested in helping them but you’d like to give them your full attention. Serve the other customers then turn your attention back to them.
- If it is a simple matter of a chatty or lonely customer who’s filling space in their day (and unwittingly taking too much of your time), invite them to come back later. Be polite and let them know that you have a couple other commitments to attend to, but don’t make them feel like they are less important than your other commitments. Although I always support honesty in business, a little white lie in this circumstance might be appropriate.
- Depending on the situation, subtle body movements and tonal changes in your voice help draw the conversation to a close. For example, slightly raising your voice’s pitch (not the volume) and summarizing a couple key points of the last conversation can help to draw the conversation to a close, as can rising and opening your office door.
- If you have to cut the conversation off, be sure to spin it in terms of their own benefit and not your benefit, just as if you were going to sell them something. For example, you might say, “This has been a great conversation; I’ve enjoyed picking your brain but I don’t want to take anymore of your time today. Thanks so much for coming in.”
- There are some things you shouldn’t do: don’t keep offering them coffee, don’t sit down beside them (instead, remain standing or remain behind your desk), and don’t ask a lot of questions. Some people suggest not asking open ended questions, which is true, but I would suggest not asking close ended questions either. For some reason, chatty people like to respond to “yes” or “no” questions with the phrase “Well, yes AND no, let me explain” It’s uncanny how often that happens.
Customers are important to your businesses but they can sometimes keep you from doing business.
