Gasp! Is that a zombie that just walked into your store? Or have they just been up all night and spilt tomato sauce all over themselves in a 2am sausage roll run to the local servo?
Well today IS halloween after all, so anything is possible.
But nah, they’re probably just normal members of the general public, despite their scary-looking appearance.
What you need to be careful of, though, are these five scary customer types, who look just like you and me but are scary enough to frighten the living bejeezus out of any Travel Agent this halloween & beyond.
1. THE STALKER
They’re always popping into the store under the pretext of booking travel; they’ve tried to add you as a friend on Facebook; and they ask far too many personal questions, such as where you live and where you like to hang out.
Stalkers don’t need to dress up as Freddy Kruegers or zombies to send shivers down your spine, because their very presence and creepy gaze does all the scaring for them.
“BTW – What are you doing tonight?”
2. THE SLEAZE
Making many unwanted advances and a holding a little too much eye contact, these usually male customers are total sleazes and their behaviour is so off-putting that it’s enough to have you running into the back room as soon as they walk into your store.
These guys come in many shapes and sizes, but greasy hair, exposed chest hair, and too much aftershave seem to be common to them all.
“I’m looking for a flight to Bali” is a question often followed by “Are you on Tinder?”
3. THE SERIAL PRICE BEATER
Watch out! That’s a price beater coming at you with an axe and they’re totally fixated on hacking away your commission without a care in the world.
Perhaps the scariest of them all, this customer type can strike fear in any travel agent as they threaten to reduce your commission to absolute zero, and that’s just not on.
4. THE RAGING BULL
You can see the veins popping out of their neck and them struggling to contain their rage even at the best of times, but lest you make a mistake or an airline change its schedule, look out.
Sometimes these customers can actually appear to be sweet little things at first, before turning into all Hulk-like monsters as soon as something doesn’t go to plan.
“Well welcome to the real world oh customer – $hit happens so deal with it like a mature adult just like the rest of us.”
This is probably not a good long term strategy to start with.
5. THE UNDECIDED
First they wanted to go to Hawaii for a week of R & R. Then they changed their minds and decided they’d like to go hiking in Nepal. And now they’re telling you they want to go to NYC for five nights before flying over to London and seeing family and friends for ‘weeks’ depending on the price.
Frustrating and freaking annoying, the worst thing about this customer type is that they’re also much more likely than a regular customer to end up booking with someone else or just online, completely oblivious to the fact that they’ve wasted your time.
For the love of…
READ: Meet the agents shouting ‘Trick or Travel’ for Halloween bookings.