From a Service Point of View

When I was in the corporate world I was a senior sales executive and contract negotiator.
I had to read people all the time.
Over the years I had several training seminars and classes on personality types and how to sell to them or how to work with them.
I learned how to hone that skill and I found it very useful in my social settings as well.

Some people you have to listen to their body more than their words.
Some people have a way of saying one thing and meaning another and you have to learn how to read this. I am great at reading tells in poker but I don't like to play cards.
I have tried to teach this to Rick because he does love to play poker.
But that is multi-tasking to him. He can't do it.
But boy while I watch him I so wish I could help him because that is truly my only talent. 

Here is one that never fails....never.
The higher the voice the bigger the lie.
Now I don't mean if someone has a higher than normal voice they are big fat liars.
No, not at all.
I mean that if you are talking to someone and their voice goes up a noticeable amount the truth is not being shared here. I worked with a woman who did this all the time.
Her favorite line was, "I don't know what you mean?"
By the time the conversation got to this "high" point only dogs could hear her.
She was very easy to read. Try it next time, you'll see what I mean.
Of course, I never called her on this because she would just lie some more, but it helped me to know that she was lying and I would work it out accordingly.

When I met one of my husband's former bosses I knew immediately the type of guy he was. The first clue was that he had to stand close to speak with me so he was looking down on me.
He was at least 1 1/2 feet taller than me. If I moved back to look straight at him he would get closer so he was looking down and I would have to look up to him. I drove him nuts moving until I asked him if he could give me some space. 
I knew this game. I have read these types before.
He always needed to feel like he was in a place of power.
Because this was not a work setting for me I wasn't allowing him to get away with this.
I knew right then he was a terribly insecure man and when my husband had issues with him he and I would discuss what I had learned on how to deal with that type.
It worked like a charm for my husband and he couldn’t believe once he knew these things how much easier it was with handling all the personality types in the office.

When I left the corporate world to work within my husband’s new business I never thought I would use those skills again or at least not as often. But boy was I ever wrong!

But what is different from my old sales career is the personality types from a service point of view.

There are several distinct personalities who call for our services.
After answering these phones for the last few years I have learned a great deal about the people who call. It helps immensely on how to sell to them as well as what information to go over in detail and what to gloss over. Some people work best with little info and some need way too much.

Because people call several times and we speak a great deal before the actual job is done for them I get a “feel” for them. I have a mental picture of what they look like as well as feel as though I know a lot about them.

At first, this was a fun game.
I would tell my husband what I thought his first appointment would look like and he would return and say whether I was spot on or not even close. I have been spot on 99% of the time. Rick seems to get a real kick out of it. I must admit it does in some small twisted way become a bit fun for me through the course of my day.

Then my little game progressed to what they do for a living. It has become very easy for me to figure out. I can nail this one. Here are some of the personality types and the questions they ask me, don’t ask me, or how they treat me….which is very telling.

Gender – No matter where they fall the differences between the sexes is very big.
Women will generally have a lot of questions in comparison to men.
Women buy because they like the service, liked me, liked what button I pushed etc.
If I hear the kids screaming in the background I know they will want to talk about the effects on a child etc.
Men ask price – now when can you do it. Period. End of story. The mind is made up.
Women ask everything and will mull over and then call yet again. This will take several calls before booking with women.

Full-time Mommy – This woman will give you so much more than you need to know.
She wants to talk to another adult and it is sadly apparent. Her number 1 concern about the job is how this will affect the baby/kids. Will this be toxic? Should she have them wrapped in bubble wrap while we are there? Would it be best if they move out of their home for a week? (Seriously I was asked this) Never a question of price, process or warranty only babies, babies, babies.

Pompous  Man – This guy thinks he knows everything. 
Mr. Machismo is my name for him. He is generally over 50 or older.
I am just the little woman who answers the phone and he makes damn sure he tells me so in one way or another. He will always ask to speak to a MAN but since I tell him no man is available he reminds me that I am inferior by a snort or a comment. He shares with me that he has read everything there is to know about this on the internet so no need to share that info with him. He'd do it himself if he wasn’t so important. He makes sure to let me know with his sighing etc that he barely has the time to give me his name and address so we can show up. He talks fast and again makes sure to remind me before we hang up that I am just a woman and he is oh so very important. 
This type heterosexual guy is sadly abundant and I think if they were double jointed and could give themselves fellatio they would never leave the house or speak to a woman again.

Government Employees – Living here in DC Metro makes us have a lot of these folks. They always ask to have the work done on a federal holiday or on a Friday when they telecommute. They don’t care about the details only ask about the cost so they can put it on their spreadsheet. They also don't expect this to be done quickly like civilians. They are government employees they know how long it takes to get anything done. They are more patient than others when I tell them I can't get them on the schedule for 2 weeks.

Military Personnel – I love these men and women. They are polite and call me ma’am.
They ask questions and listen to the answers. When I go through what they need to do prior to our arrival they thank me for the time I have given them and they do as requested. They are the only ones who complete what is necessary, who thank us, and who are truly a joy to work with.

Techies – They have read our website from beginning to end and will only discuss through emails. They always compliment me on the great website. The phone apparently frightens them. They will take a week to correspond with me on details via email when it could be done with a 10-minute phone call. Websites and emails mean more to them than social skills so picking up the phone and actually having a conversation is unthinkable. When I ask for a daytime phone number for contact they say they only text. I imagine them as pasty figures who never see the sun. They email me all hours of the day and night which proves they have no life, social or otherwise. They seem skittish to me. If I leaned in it would frighten them I am certain.

Over 70– These folks are the only ones who are polite on the phone but the rest of the things they say are amazingly out of touch.
They call and are so confused about everything. 
Now here is the thing. I'm getting older and I fear I will be like this too. 
Everything needs to be explained over and over again.
They always whisper, “Does he speak English?” like whispering this politically incorrect statement makes it better. I don’t mind them at all because they do make me laugh and while they appear to be confused they are generally nice. Sadly nice is rare. I look at this group as my grandparents even though most aren't that much older than me.

Young Arrogant Guy – This is always a guy who tells me about all the homes or properties he has. He is either a flipper or a landlord and never over 34. One guy told me he had all this property and by the way, they are paid for. Why do I care I wanted to ask but just said, "that's nice" like I cared. Always wants it for the cheap because you know he has a big car payment -those Mercedes ain’t cheap. Speaks in fragments and not full sentences to show me what a mover and a shaker he is – he doesn’t have time for full sentences. While on the phone with me I hear him talking to others and I picture him texting, ordering a latte and flirting with the barista who he refers to as sweetie or darlin' all while on the phone with me.  This is him telling me that I am not that important but he sure as hell is.  He never is really listening to anyone but himself talk. He never stops bragging and I should be damn thankful he has taken time out of his day to call us for our services. He will always ask for a break in price and say it in a manner that he thinks I will be so frightened of losing the job that I will succumb to his request. I will never give these types a break like I will others. Never.

Women in Leadership/Powerful Positions – This group fascinates me because they are like men only polite. They are of a “certain age” - baby boomers like myself. They talk fast, don’t want a lot of information, spell out orders at me as though I work for them. Never a question – always a statement proclaimed with perfect diction and enunciation. They could be a bit intimidating if I didn’t realize that they had to be this way to get where they are. They are of that generation. Never rude but never warm. Just the facts ma’am and if they need to speak to us again their assistant always calls.

Cat Lovers – See Full Time Mommy’s but replace babies with cats. The only thing that really gets me is they add cat stories and honestly I want to scream. I never tell them that I am not a fan of cats. Instead, I listen and chuckle when appropriate. I know it's horrible of me - please don't send me hate mail. Dog people never talk to me about their dogs. Is this karma because of my phobia of cats?

Smokers – This group fascinates the hell out of me.
They always, and I will repeat, always ask about the chemicals used in the process.
They want to know the harmful effects of said chemicals on their lungs.
Stop laughing, they really ask this and don’t see this as odd.
What is even funnier is that all of them ask me this as I hear them puffing away on a cigarette. While I address their concern for their health politely I really want to scream THIS STUFF HAS NOTHING ON THE CARCINOGENS YOU ARE CURRENTLY INGESTING - but I don't of course. Rick actually arrived at a woman’s home where the bathroom tiles had turned yellow from smoke. She had a cigarette lit the entire time he was there and she questioned him repeatedly about the chemicals and the harm they may do to her breathing/health.  Most recently a woman asked about the chemicals because she was concerned about her lungs. She too was smoking when she asked Rick this. He laughed and explained the ventilation done etc and then said to her, "you know it isn't as bad as what is in your hand."  She said, "Oh these are no chemical cigarettes."  
He asked if she was smoking her lawn then? She laughed and said, "No silly they make cigarettes with no chemicals at all - everyone is smoking them now." 
Can’t make this shit up folks. BTW, she decided to move out for 24 hrs because she was afraid this would hurt her lungs.

Realtors – Ooh, these are a special breed. As I have written before they too think they are VIP’s….interestingly enough especially the women. They will ALWAYS tell me that if we do a good job there is so much business they will send our way. Good thing they say that because otherwise, we had no intentions of doing a great job!  It's no surprise to us but it is funny that they ALL say the same thing. Men realtors say the same thing but with less self-importance attached. Both sexes in this field don't appear to be the brightest bulbs in the box. Everything must be explained so many times. They don't listen and they don't understand. They frustrate me. They are very demanding and get very snippy quickly if you can't accommodate them when they feel you should. I had to tell someone we couldn't be there for a week. She literally screamed and about broke my eardrum. When she was finished with her hissy fit I asked her how long it takes to get to in to see her hairdresser. "Oh, at least 3 weeks why?"  So then you understand that one must be patient sometimes to see a professional who is great at their job. She actually said, "oh I see what you mean" And she booked it. How was that not apparent before? There has been only 1 realtor who was both nice and bright and he was the owner of the biggest agency here in the DC Metro area. I wanted to ask why he hires such dimwits, but I resisted since he spends a lot of money on his homes for sale and his flips. 

Interesting stuff isn't it? It is to me anyways.
What is most interesting to me is that this is not random but constant.
Guess we’re not all so different are we?