"Fire" Your Bad Customers

Here's a concept to consider: some customers just aren't
worth the trouble. We work so hard to get customers, and
then work so hard to keep them, it's hard to grasp the idea
that we are better of WITHOUT some of them!

Let's face it; some people just don't "get it". They won't
be nice or reasonable, they need too much 'hand-holding', or
they haggle over everything. Lose 'em! Tell them politely
that they will be better off getting your product or service
elsewhere.

A local auto repair shop diagnosed a clutch problem and did
approximately $300 worth of repairs. About 2 weeks later
the clutch failed when I was 80 miles from home, and I had
to take it to a local Nissan dealer. They told me that the
problem was one of the parts that had just been replaced.

When I took the paperwork and bad part into the local repair
shop, he looked it over and took the position that he had no
way of knowing whether the part in question was really bad
or whether the part they gave me was, in fact, the part they
had put in. I told him that I understood that but I didn't
think that the dealer would have tried a blatant lie and,
the dealer's factory part cost less than theirs. He mulled
it over and decided to give me $150 credit because it
certainly looked like something wasn't kosher and, besides,
I was being reasonable and they didn't want to lose me as a
customer. Just the previous week they had had a "screamer";
someone who had a problem and came in there yelling and
screaming about it.

"I don't need that", he said. "I told them to take their
business elsewhere." Sometimes you've got to 'fire' your
customers!

I know a graphic designer in New York who had a client that
was very slow paying. In fact, on several occasions he even
reduced their agreed-upon fee because of what he claimed
were "delays" caused by my friend that were totally
fabricated. He has asked her to do another project: she
told him "no".

Some customers need to be 'fired'.

In my software business the customers typically installed
the product on their corporate computer (not a PC, but a
large "mainframe"). The software arrived on a tape and the
process took about 2 hours. Some of them installed it with
no help from me whatsoever; some of them needed help opening
the box that the tape came in. The latter customers were
usually the ones that needed to be 'fired'.

It's important to define what you consider to be a "good"
customer or a "bad" customer. When someone crosses the
line, you have to decide whether that particular person is
"worth the trouble'. Only you can make the call, but you
may be surprised to realize that they aren't.

If so, send 'em packin'. You can't please everyone, but you
can wear yourself out trying to, so if the match isn't right
you both will be better off if you sever the business
relationship.

It only hurts for a second.

Then, a wave of relief will flood over you and you'll know
you did the right thing.