After you’ve worked at a contact center for a while, you will start to notice that a lot of the people you’re talking to can be grouped into a few different categories. Some of the people in those categories, though, are harder to deal with than others. Here are some problems associated with different personality types, and some contact center solutions to help you deal with these customers.

The Ego Stroker

Now this caller thinks they’re just the bee’s knees. They think that if they let you know that, they’re going to get better, faster service. You know that you give the same good service to each caller though, so someone like this can be frustrating. If they say something like “Do you know who I am?” you know you’re talking to an ego stroker.

Do you remember when you were little and you would tell your mom or dad a crazy story and they would change their tone of voice so that you felt like you were telling them the most important thing in the world? It is now time to master that voice. If you use that same voice with the ego stroker, they should calm down long enough for you to get the information you need to solve their problem.

The Chatty Cathy (or Chris)

Women are often associated with this rambling, talkative personality, but it happens just as often with men as it does women. Callers with this personality will tell you about their life, their problems (unrelated to their reason for calling) and frustrate you with their lack of the ability to be concise.

This can be an opportunity for great customer service to be shown, so don’t shut them down right away.

1. For the first minute, listen to this caller to understand what they’re saying and the problem at hand.

2. Restate what you have heard the problem is.

3. When they go back on a tangent, reconnect what they’re saying to the problem. This way you help them stay focused and you can get on to the next caller.

The (Seemingly) All-Knowing

This customer calls you with a question, but is resistant to solutions different than their own. Apart from saying, “obviously that didn’t work the first time, that’s why you called me,” make the caller feel like they’re part of the team while they’re calling. Use words like “us” and “we” when talking to this personality. That way they feel like they’re part of the process to find a new solution and can put their “expertise” to work.

The Mouse

Now, these customers don’t run around looking for cheese, and you wouldn’t be able to hear them even if they did. These customers are those that don’t respond when you ask them questions about the situation. If you experience a caller that seems like they’re not going to utter a word, switch from open-ended questions to close-ended questions. This way the caller only has to pick from three responses, instead of many combinations of words, and can get their point across quickly and efficiently. Email also works as a great global call center solution. Your caller may not be responding because they do not understand your language, so if they can email a concern it can be ensured that they get a response and the help they need.

It may be frustrating to deal with callers that have personalities different than your own. However, if there weren’t many different personalities in the world, life would be pretty boring. Learning how to deal with each different personality will help ensure your day on the job runs smoothly.  You can even help those in your workplace with customers like this through phone call recording software. Each of these personalities can be recorded and used in different trainings for your team. It can also be hard to know if every customer had a good experience. You may want to think about using customer survey software so their opinions can be heard.