Customer Attitudes That Push Our Buttons

© Holly Stiel

Pages 1 2 3 4

In the seventeen years I spent as a hotel concierge in a large San Francisco property, I noticed six customer attitudes that kept repeating themselves. These attitudes were interesting not only because they appeared consistently, but because they represented the feelings that “push the buttons” of front-line service providers.

Service positions require a great deal of understanding on the part of the service provider to get past the initial, negative emotional triggers that customers with the following attitudes elicit. Being aware of these customers’ attitudes is extremely important for two reasons:

  • - Because you must first be aware of what is occurring, name what the emotion you are feeling is, and then make a choice, separate from the occurring emotion, to not react negatively.

  • - Because while only a small percentage of customers exhibit attitudes that trigger negative emotions, these customers can have a crossover effect on the customer base that is perfectly delightful to serve.

The following is a representation of the six attitudes that seem to appear on a consistent basis.

Disclaimer: Any resemblance to real people in your business is purely coincidental and unintentional.

These attitudes are, however, so universal, many people in my seminars call out names and say “they were just here last week!”


Attitude No. 1: The Entitled

"You owe me."
"I expect you to do this."
“I deserve this.”
“No one else exists and you have nothing else to do but to help me.”

The negative emotional trigger that The Entitled can elicit is resentment. It quickly leads to the thought, “Just who exactly do you think you are?” It can result in an unwillingness to give of oneself to help such a customer, and it inhibits problem-solving.


Attitude No. 1: The Panicked

“What do you mean my order isn’t ready?”
“Impossible, the loan has to go through, escrow closes at four p.m.!”
“Now what am I going to do?"

This attitude screams “ME,” and it is both tense and intense. The emotional trigger that the panicked elicits is protection. It leads to the thought, “Oh great, now your problem is my problem.” It can cause service providers to set up rigid boundaries that often result in a refusal to cross the boundaries necessary to perform problem-solving and service.
next page >

Pages 1 2 3 4