Donna
Siegel

Customer Service For The Affluent

People who have accumulated a bit of wealth are no different from anyone else -- except that they expect extraordinary service from everyone they deal with. You will gain insight into the typical buying characteristics and expectations of the wealthy, and what you must do to satisfy them in Customer Service For The Affluent.

I can't believe these people. I shop here all the time. And yet when I need a little something done my way, they make me stand in line and wait. Don't they know I'm busy? With all the money I spend here, I should be treated as someone special. I don't know about this. Maybe next time, I'll check out that other store down the street. My friends tell me I can get the same products, but with much better service. Who needs this nonsense?

There is an old rule in sales that 20 percent of the customers account for 80 percent of the business. And while having the right products or the right location might help in building the loyalty of those who are affluent, the most important factor is the quality of the service. While all customers want and need high quality service, the affluent are especially sensitive.

Who Are The Affluent?

In an earlier era, it was easier to identify the affluent. People lived in smaller communities where the affluent were more visible. They either benefited from inherited wealth or were prominent community leaders and/or business owners.

Today, the definition of people who qualify as affluent is much broader than it once was. It is possible to earn or acquire substantial wealth from a wide variety of activities -- everything from managing the corner grocery store to winning the lottery. If someone decides to buy stock in the right start-up venture today and waits patiently for a couple of years, that person has a good chance of becoming a millionaire. Or if someone puts money away in a savings program on a regular basis, he or she is likely to build up quite a good-sized nest egg.

And with people moving from community to community, it's harder to distinguish those who can well be classified as affluent. In many cases, you don't know or you can't know.

Customer Service Expectations Of The Affluent

While the affluent can look and sound like everyone else, don't think for a moment that their expectations of you and your company are the same. Although you might not recognize the person standing in front of you or calling you on the phone as a person of substantial means, there are other organizations that recognize the signs of wealth and have developed techniques for catering to them.

It's these other organizations that set the level of expectations for serving the affluent well. How do the expectations of the affluent differ from those of the less affluent? The affluent are more likely to:

• Think and act like businesspeople. Whether or not the source of their wealth is derived from business, the affluent use businesslike decision-making processes. They have formalized methods of buying products or services. They prefer long-term strategies. They are likely to use experts to help them with their decision making.
  
  

• Demand personalized service. The affluent expect to have people pay particular attention to them and their needs. They want to be recognized immediately (by sight or by the sound of their voice); once recognized, they want to receive quick, efficient service to their needs, and they want this service to be delivered in a friendly, supportive environment.
  
  

• Insist on "extras." The wealthy expect to be given more than the less affluent in the course of receiving service. They want and expect small perks, such as a special area set up for their own needs or small tokens of appreciation.
  
  

• Get references from others they trust. The affluent tend to be protective of themselves and people they determine are their peers. Thus, before finding a source for service, they are most likely to seek out references from those of their own group whose opinions they respect.

Techniques For Providing Customer Service For The Affluent

Given that the affluent have high expectations of your service, how do you ensure that you'll meet (or exceed) their expectations? Here are three techniques that might be helpful in making sure you are giving affluent people the type of service they want:

1. Don't make assumptions about your customer before you have proof
There are many versions of the story of the man who walked into a Cadillac dealership wearing torn overalls and no shoes, who asked to see a car. The salesperson made a snap decision that this person could not afford a Cadillac and promptly told him so, at which point the customer pulled out a roll of hundred dollar bills more than sufficient to buy any car in the showroom.

Given that today it's hard to tell the affluent from the people with fewer assets, it's easy to get pulled into making assumptions about who belongs in that special group. Rule number one is to never make an assumption about any person until you have proof of who that person is, or who that person knows.  

2. Provide instant recognition
If you have talked to or helped an affluent person before, make note of who that person is, so that in the next interaction, you can provide instant recognition.

Many clubs and organizations take pictures of their members so service staff can recognize them. Other companies use systems to flag a unique piece of information (such as the social security number) to help staff people recognize an affluent, influential customer right away. If your company does not provide you with tools to help you recognize your most valued customers, build your own.

3. Remember customers' preferences
Once you've recognized a customer, you are now prepared to help that person. Every time you see or speak to any of your affluent customers, you should be making notes on their preferences -- how do they like to be addressed, what procedures for service do they prefer, how do they like to find out the results of your task, which types of products or services are they most likely to inquire about, etc. At every new encounter, you can use this information to make each one of your affluent customers feel very important.

SeaBird Associates Inc
3011 NE 7th Drive
Boca Raton, FL 33431
Phone: 561-750-9233
E-mail: Donna Siegel

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