How to deal with customers that are true liabilities?

Question

I work for a small busines that deals with some customers in ways I've never seen before. You know the customer type (or maybe you don't) that is a true liability. They are going to be more hassle than they're worth. Even if they don't steal as much time or money from the business as they've spent, they'll make doing business unpleasant for managers and employees. I see a lot of entrepreneurs say that there are no difficult customers, just opportunities not seen yet. At the business that I work for now, we end the relationship clearly and quickly. The bad customer usually backpeddles, and is very offended when we don't back down from asking them to leave. What are your thoughts?

Answer 1

Any business would want a long and profitable relationship with its customers. If a new customer is not likely to be profitable because they demand more than they want to pay for, then why keep the relationship? Even in retail, you have serial "returners" or people who want to "borrow" your products and then return them for a full refund. Remember to stay in business you have to be profitable. As long as you are polite, show these people the door!

Answer 2

I think you are better off not to make enemies. Word of mouth is a very powerful thing. Although YOU think the customer is bad, the customer is going to tell 50 of his closest friends about the rude treatment he received at your establishment.

Unless the customer was caught stealing, I would say that you should find a more diplomatic way to deal with them. Diplomacy is a great art to learn. You can tell a person to go @#*$# themselves and they won't even know it....and you will get your point across without making an enemy.

I can't imagine that your present way of handling these difficult customers is going to help you in the long run.

Answer 3

The problem is they can free ride on your time if you do not drop them. If they were charged hourly or by effort they would at least be profitable to you, but if you cannot increase your price to cover emotional and financial costs, then you must drop them.

You have a bright manager. On the other hand, if you could price the grief in, it may be financially worth your time. You are in the situation where something is worth doing by you is worth $10 to you but $20 to them. That isn't a bad thing, if they are costing you less than or equal to $10, but if they are trying to get the entire $20 from you you need to charge them the $20.

Answer 4

In real estate, many coaches are teaching us to move away from this idea of trying to help everyone and their grandmother buy/sell a home. They tell us that we cannot help everyone and there are some people that will just drag us down, not necessarily just based on loss of income either. One statement I really like is "I'd rather turn you down now, than let you down later." Its kind of a nice way to say no, and gives a "this is hurting me more than it hurts you" connotation. Small businesses, entreprenuers,and independent contractors are often working in more risky situations often with their own funds or those of investors they must actually report to. I don't think it is an issue to work with only those clients that will contribute to your overall bottom line, as long as federal & local laws are not broken.