How do I handle stupid customers?

I hear people say that indirectly in many ways….."That person that just called was so dumb", or "WOW, what an idiot", or "I can't believe they don't understand what we're doing", or ... and the list goes on, you know what I'm talking about. Every time I hear people say that or complain about customers I have to wonder "does this company really run right, do they get it?"

Let's say a customer calls and says they don't know how to do something on your web site. The easy thing to do is just say that customer is a "dummy" and they just don't understand. The smart thing to do is to go to your web site and try to do what they just tried to do. See what may have tripped them up or caused them to pause or caused them to hit the wrong button.

When you do this, chances are you might just find what that "dummy" was saying was really happening and the input they gave you, the call they made will actually save you money in the long run. Look at the call as favor and quite possibly a wakeup call to get you off of autopilot and get you back engaged in the marketing and purchasing of your products or services.

Keep in mind insurance policies and other public information that people really want people to understand is written at an 8th grade level. I can't tell you how many times I see people use words in their marketing or the directions for buying or describing things that people just don't understand. That's either going to cause them to call you or leave without buying.

Do you want the call or a lost sale? For sure the goal is to get a sale without a call, but I'll take the call over a lost sale a million times a year! The next time you or someone at your place of business labels a customer question or call as stupid or dumb, take a minute and look for the "smartness" of the information they are telling you with their questions. When you start to look at your customer calls with this mindset, you'll not only get fewer calls but you'll get more sales! Make it happen!
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