The 12 Types of Toxic Customers (and how to identify them)

These are the most problematic customer profiles in the workplace.

In any business you have to deal with all kinds of customers. Some are very good customers, polite and appreciative of our work, regardless of how many times they need our services or products.

But other times we have to deal with customers who are not clean wheat. Rude, critical, anxious, insecure or those who ask us for discounts when it is not the right time.

Here we are going to learn about the types of toxic customers that we may encounter in any business, looking at their main characteristics.

The 12 types of toxic customers, and their characteristics.

The relationship with customers always depends on the context, on aspects linked to the time and place where the interaction with them takes place. However, beyond that, we can recognize types of toxic customers taking into account that these are not hermetic categories and that they do not summarize the way of being of these people in all situations of their lives; we simply base them on the type of predisposition they show towards us.

In the following we are going to discover the 12 most common types of toxic customersand learn how to identify them and what problems they usually cause.

1. Controlling customer

The controlling customer is the one who, over and over again, is pestering us to find out how we are doing, is pestering us to find out how the project or the product we are going to offer is going..

It is the typical one who is constantly calling us, proposing new proposals by mail and changing the course of the project over and over again. They need to have "control" of the situation and, since they can't control us as if we were puppets, they feel they have some power knowing what we do and don't do.

Supervision is fine, since sometimes things can go wrong in the production process or there is some detail that they would have liked to know so that they could change it. The problem is that being constantly aware of what we do and what we don't do is a real nuisance, since, in addition to wasting our time, it can cause us to lose a lot of time. Besides wasting our time, it gives us the impression that he does not trust our experience, perseverance and responsibility..

2. Hypercritical customer

As its name suggests, the hypercritical customer is the one who criticizes everything. He is never happy with what we have done, being demanding and perfectionist to extreme levels.

Certainly, you are within your rights to ask for the best, since no one wants to pay to receive something that is below quality standards.

The problem is that the hypercritical customer sees flaws where there are noneor notices those that are of little importance. Our work is not enough for him and, on top of that, he is not able to see all the good things we have done.

3. Impatient customer

The impatient customer is constantly rushing around, waiting to see if what he has ordered has arrived.. He seems to think that the more times he looks at how we are doing, the sooner he will get what he has ordered. He rushes us, but we must always deliver.

But to top it all off, he is not the one who complies with being punctual. If we have asked him to provide us with documentation or to tell us what he wanted on a specific date, he simply tells us that he had missed it.

As he is the customer, he has the right to ask for haste from others, but he does not have to comply with it.. According to him, if he delivers what we agreed at the last minute, we will do our "magic" and get our part done within the stipulated time.

4. Indecisive customer

Insecurity, indecision and fear of giving an explicit answer are the characteristics that define the indecisive customer. They are not able to choose at once a proposal or option that we have told them. It is normal to have some indecision when the first contact with a professional is established, but from there to not having anything clear is a big problem for us, since consumes us time, energy and patience.

It needs more proposals, more innovative ideas, something out of the ordinary, but then what was originally original turns out not to be so original anymore. It enters a loop to start another project when the previous one had already been determined or even almost finished. or even almost at the end. You want to change everything a bit before the presentation.

5. Customer complainer

The complaining client is very hypercritical, in that he never seems to be satisfied with the work we have done. This type of client is the one who always blames the problems on other people, both us as professionals and other people involved in the process.

He needs a scapegoat on which to project his own failures.. He focuses on small defects instead of seeing the great advances or benefits of the product/service, showing a terribly biased vision and, on top of that, he says that others do not understand him.

It is usually the type of customer who speaks badly of other professionals, which is why we must be very careful. If he speaks badly of other professionals, it may make us think that he has really had bad luck and now he has the opportunity to receive a very good service or product. The problem is that this will not reach him, he will be very critical of what we have done and will include us in his list of bad professionals.

6. Offensive customer

One of the worst. The offensive client is the one who, when going to the professional, does not give him the respect he deserves, despite the fact that he is the one who has asked for help.. He does not take our profession seriously, or makes unpleasant statements such as "even my niece does this" or "I do this with my eyes closed" But what does he know that we don't?

He does not listen to our explanations, nor does he respect our agreements. He doesn't give us calm, and to top it off, he doesn't make it clear what he wants. We don't work several hours in a row and then someone comes to us with bad words and tells us that we don't work well. We are the experts in what we offer, so we have every right to protect ourselves from these people.. They are people who can be given a touch.

7. Anxious customer

Anxiousness is what characterizes the anxious customer, as can be deduced from his name. He needs to know the project step by step before giving the green light to start. The problem is that he needs to be sure that everything is going to go smoothly, both for the good use of his money and for his feeling of security. He fears that things will actually go wrong, bordering on the pathological.

This is the customer who is seen to be interested in the product or service but does not dare to pay for it because he either believes it might hurt him (p. e.g., buying a cell phone and thinking it is going to explode) or fears that he is wasting money (e.g., getting ripped off). He always puts himself in the worst case scenario. He does not trust the experience, he does not believe in anything he is told. No matter how much we insist that the project is going well, he does not seem to believe it.

8. Customer angry with the world

This type of customer is the one who is toxic according to what has happened to him recently. This is the person who, either because of his personality or because he has had a bad day, has had to be angry with the world today. he/she has had to be angry with the world today.and in that world we find ourselves. His way of expressing himself is, mostly, based on shouting, and he does not spare dry expressions that can be aggressive and offensive.

They are usually those who define themselves as direct people, who go to the point, but from being direct to, directly, saying everything with anger, there is a big step. Very much in line with the previous case, the customer who is angry with the world is someone who is hostile, and although we can understand that a customer does not always have to be happy to be served, it is necessary to calm him down a little. He can't enjoy a good service or product if he already comes reluctantly.

9. Conflict-avoidant customer

We go from the customer who is angry with the world to the one who is directly afraid to face it. The conflict-avoidant customer is the one who does not understand that it is his right to be uncomfortable with what he has been offered, and he must say so.. This is a type of customer who tries to be a very good customer, and is afraid that we will think that he underestimates our work. He sees tension where there is none.

The main problem with this type of client is that he approves over and over again everything we have presented to him, making us believe that the project is going in the direction he wants it to go. His innate fear of saying "no" means that, when things are very advanced, he can't stand it any longer and tells us that everything we have done doesn't convince him. He says so at the right time! We have invested a lot of time and resources for nothing, making us start all over again from the beginning..

10. Unpleasant customer

Customers are not going to be our friends, but it's still nice to feel that they give us a good vibe. A customer who is very, very difficult to work with ends up being an unpleasant customer.

We don't care how much money he is going to give us, if he is not comfortable to work with he is not worth much. It may be because of the way they talk, their superior looks, the way they speak, the bad jokes they make or the jokes they make that give us a bad "vibe".

11. Non-committal client

In every professional relationship there is a first step that cannot be avoided: the first contact. In this first contact, client and professional talk about what is being offered, what is wanted, what the services are like and whether or not they intend to establish a professional relationship. This first step, once passed, implies two paths: either the relationship continues either the relationship continues, starting the project, or it ends because the client cannot get what he wants..

The problem with non-committal clients is that they opt for a third way: that of not breaking the relationship but not strengthening it either. They are the typical ones who keep asking us the same question over and over again, or disguise it as a new question to ask but, basically, we have already told them. They are constantly making us lose money by offering them free consultations instead of offering them the product/service we are experts in. We are not a free service. If you want the product/service offered, pay for it outright.

12. Customer expert in haggling

The expert customer in bargaining is the one who thinks that, really, for doing our job, we are going to give him a discount or some kind of special offer. He is the one who tries to trick you, making you very nervous.

His vision of any economic transaction is that some lose and others win, instead of understanding that both the one who receives the money and the one who receives the product/service make a profit. Prices are what they areand, unless it is a flea market sale, they must be respected.

Conclusion

These 12 types of toxic customers are the most common that we can find in any profession. As we have seen, there are all kinds and for every condition, so you must be very careful and know how to deal with each of them. The variety of toxic customers is also synonymous with a variety of problems, none of which we want for our business.

Setting limits, specifying the prices of the product or service offered, giving some touches to avoid unpleasant comments towards our professionThe following are strategies to avoid that clients end up destroying our business: setting limits, specifying the prices of the product or service offered, giving some touches to avoid unpleasant comments towards our profession and clearly establishing the deadlines for the fulfillment of each objective.

Bibliographical references:

• Blythe, Jim (2008). Essentials of Marketing (4th ed.). Pearson Education. ISBN 978-0-273-71736-2.
• Frain, John (1999). Customers and customer buying behavior. Introduction to marketing (4th ed.). Cengage Learning EMEA. ISBN 978-1-86152-147-7.