A Con Customer is a client who comes to your shop and tries to play tricks in order to swindle you. By the way, customers aren’t always right. So, is you clever enough to spot the sus in these customers? This article outlines some of these con behaviours.

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Con Behaviour #1

A customer walks into your premises when you are probably serving other customers. This person sits pretty waiting for you to finish with every customer, including those who come after them - and they give you permission to do this when you call them out when it’s their turn. After you are done and it’s just the two of you, this is when they come to you and make interesting requests in the name of favours, requests that could be detrimental to you and your small business if granted.

Con Behaviour #2

Some of your customers are people you have interacted with in the past. Some of these come to your business premises, ask or even demand for favours and when you deny them they pull that card of "Remember what I did for you a while back?" Yeah. They then go forth to remind you of how they assisted you, in fact they point out specific times when they had your back and moments when they played the superhero role to save you. Looks like it’s time for payback.

Con Behaviour #3

There are those customers who let you keep the change or tip you, once or twice. Later on, they come and buy goods and/or services from you on debt, again, once or twice; only that the second time, now that they’ve established some sort of trust from you, they place a higher order then of course you’ll never see them again, at least as your customer. You don’t want to listen to some crazy stories and fake promises whenever you bump into them in the streets.

Con Behaviour #4

There are those customers who ask for your name. Well, in most cases you’ll tell them your first name if you have to. Then they’ll insist to know your surname, just to know what tribe you come from. If your surname doesn’t register to a tribe they know, they go ahead and ask for your tribe. This conversation, when entertained, always builds up into a swindle. If you aren’t smart enough yon won’t see the con coming and before you know it, you’ve lost. Careful.

Con Behaviour #5

Some customers engage you in lots of stories, if you entertain it that is, lots of comedy and politics and miseries about their life. After all the noisemaking they declare you a friend, and of course do the Con Behaviour #4 above. You know they are going to show up at your shop again, now as a friend of yours - the friend you just met in the first sentence of this paragraph. Calling you by your name, you are going to be subjected to tricks that will have your small business exploited.

Con Behaviour #6

Some customers will have you bust your a** for them, knowing very well and keeping mum about the fact that they do not have the money to pay you. This happens especially for businesses that are in the service industry, where services performed cannot be undone. When you finish the job that’s when you are smeared with all types of shitty excuses, exhausing stories and lies - a successfully executed con. What an insult to you and your small business?

Other Con Behaviours in Statements

• I’ll send you the payment for these products via mobile money first thing when I get home.
• I get services from so-and-so (somebody running a business down the street) and pay later.
• I don’t like keeping debts. It’s not good. I will have yours paid by the end of the month.
• So-and-so (somebody you know) is my friend/neighbour, I’ll bring you money for these items.
  
• I’ll give the payment to your parent/sibling (persons known to be close to you) to bring it to you.

About the Author

Caleb Mwema

I’m a beginner tech and biz enthusiast, and a blogger of stuff I find useful and interesting in my adventures as a Kenyan. Click on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to like and follow my pages on the mentioned socials.

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