We are all familiar with having them. particularly while working in the hospitality sector of the economy. There are those customers for whom you just cannot charge enough money to make it worthwhile in terms of the amount of anxiety, headaches, and irritation they cause. Someone had told me in the past that there are occasions when the price of one dollar is too expensive. indeed. It is time to let a customer leave if it is determined that the amount of hassle they cause is more than the amount of money they bring in. It is time to let a customer leave when the amount of problems they cause is more than the amount of money they bring in. to tweet, click here. However, how can one determine when they have had enough? dumping a customer; we have no choice except to stop working with you As a proprietor of a company, it goes against all of your natural inclinations to turn away business and make less money, yet what takes place on an energy level is not something that can be ignored. When things start to go wrong, our entrepreneurial instincts usually go into high gear, and we work harder to ensure that the customer is satisfied. We also concentrate more on the customer in order to assist them in turning things around, but we still end up losing sleep over it. After expending all of that effort, you find yourself in a state of utter frustration because nothing seems to be working, and you have lost other business as a result of being unable to focus on other clients to the extent that they required or having the time to get new business with your ideal client. When you put your attention on something that is unfavorable, energetically speaking, it causes your company to remain mired in that unfavorable state, which prevents it from taking advantage of any opportunities for growth. When is the right time to fire a customer? Have you been dealing with a customer that was once your dream but is now your greatest nightmare? When you initially start working with a client, they could look like “the bomb,” but once you get to know them more, you might observe certain red flags that make you question whether or not you should continue to work with them. The following is a list of eleven different sorts of customers who might become your customers and should prompt you to examine whether or not it is worthwhile to keep them as customers of your company: 1. those who cannot be appeased. There are certain customers that are really particular, and no matter how hard you try to satisfy them, they will never be content. Most of the time, it’s because they are unsure of what they want; other times, it’s because they constantly changing their minds; or maybe it’s because a coworker or an assistant is offering them advise that isn’t suited to them. However, for whatever reason, you find yourself exerting a great deal of additional work in order to fulfill their satisfaction requirements. and quite often at no additional cost, having a negative impact on your overall revenue. 2. those who are to blame. When you provide a service, you can never really promise that it will be successful for the customer. Whatever it is that you’ve been tasked with doing, the role of the customer is the most important factor in determining the result. You won’t be able to do miracles if they don’t follow your directions, if they sabotage your efforts by questioning both their own and your judgment, or if they don’t accomplish what they need to in order for the project to be successful. These individuals have a propensity to move quickly from one resource to another, believing that their failures are always the fault of someone else rather than looking at what it is that they are doing (or not doing) to create these circumstances. When dealing with a customer of this kind, there is no way out for you. 3. those who pay their bills late. The customer that pays an invoice as soon as they get it is universally acknowledged as the best client. When a customer routinely pays their bills over the due date or, even worse, falls behind in their payments, it may be challenging to provide them with the highest quality of service. Dealing with customers who pay promptly is far more gratifying than working with customers who pay late. Continuing to do business with them enables their poor behavior and sends the message that it is OK for them to be late with their payments. 4. those who grumble about the expense. You know the typethey are the ones that regularly moan about how much money something is costing them, seek for discounts, and believe that they are entitled to lower prices. Working for a ‘Frugal Fred’ may be a real pain in the rear end. They will not stop attempting to convince you that you should do anything for free. You keep having more added to your plate, and others keep assuming that everything ought to have been accounted for in the initial pricing. Sometimes they try to make you feel bad by telling you about their ‘temporary’ financial issues and promising to pay you once they get the big break that’s ‘just around the corner.’ This is one way that they attempt to manipulate you into feeling guilty. Don’t believe anything they have to say. There is no price tag attached to brilliance. When a customer does not appreciate the high level of service that you give, it follows that they do not value you. period. Your ideal customer will have no problem paying you what you are worth and will do so cheerfully. 5. the ones who panicked and then insisted. When you have customers like this, they want everything done right away and at the very last minute, which forces you to put other work that is just as vital on hold so that you can make them happy. Their failure to make preparations is not your responsibility and should not be treated as such. If they persist in sending you assignments with no warning, you should charge a significant premium for the expedited completion of the work. Should they continue to want rapid response times, you may want to think about abandoning them as a customer. The finest customers will acknowledge the amount of time that is required and agree to a deadline that will enable you to do your best work for them. 6. those who don’t bother to listen. When someone employs a specialist, the one thing that irritates me more than anything else is when they ask for your opinion, stop for a while, and then say, “I believe we should do it this way instead.” either that, or they will seek your opinion and then question their friends, assistants, and other people who work in businesses relevant to their own to find out whether or not they should follow your recommendation. Everyone has an opinion, and the majority of the time, the individuals whose opinions are sought are not in the least competent to provide professional guidance. This practice of second-guessing does nothing except waste time and effort and is a solid evidence that the customers lack confidence in their own ability to make judgments that are straightforward. and of course, when you do what they want but they don’t receive the results they want, they point the finger at you (see client type #2 in the list above.) If they are interested in employing a specialist, they should be “coachable” and willing to put your recommendations and plans into action while having faith in your capabilities. If they do not have that level of confidence, they need to find someone else with whom they can have that level of confidence. 7. those who are abusive. A number of years ago, I had a customer who practically threatened me when he realized that his email wasn’t functioning the way he believed it should. Because of his ignorance of how email works, he has been harassing me, treating me disrespectfully, and blaming me for his problems. This is all because of his misunderstanding of how email operates. I was really terrified. Certain customers are known to be really violent. They treat you as less than human and treat you roughly. When a customer begins becoming a bully, you should immediately start making plans to divorce them. Nobody qualifies for being treated in such a manner. 8. the things that generate tension. When you notice that they are calling on the phone and your heart sinks, anxiety kicks in, and you don’t want to answer the phone, this is a clear sign that they are the sort of customer you want to avoid. Once upon a time, one of our customers was a husband-and-wife duo. The spouse was a very affable, kind, and agreeable person. However, when the couple’s wife phoned, she was very demanding, rude, and even scary. Knowing that I was going to have a challenging chat with her made it extremely difficult for me to answer the phone when she called. Working with customers that give you an unnecessary amount of tension and anxiety, despite your best efforts to make them happy, is not an endeavor that is worth pursuing. Spend your attention instead on discovering the right customer for your business. 9. those who have contrasting personalities. There are instances when personalities just don’t click. It is inevitable. You should respect yourself enough to know when to walk away from customers who aren’t a pleasure to assist. 10. the entities that feed off of other people’s energy. Certain customers are figuratively speaking energy black holes. They are demanding and want your whole attention at all times. They savor all of your happiness and sap all of your strength, leaving you utterly spent after interacting with them. What’s even worse is that they are preventing you from working with a customer that would be an ideal fit for your business. Don’t take on customers who are going to be a burden. Pick customers who excite and motivate you. 11. those who have unrealistic expectations on others. When customers expect you to have expertise in a field in which you do not have it but yet demand that you do the task for them, they are setting you up for failure. In the event that you give in to them, you will find yourself in a world of problems, spending hours attempting to achieve things, making errors, and not achieving the outcomes that you want. Simply decline employment opportunities that are outside of your field of specialization. Instead, you should direct them to another someone who is a lot better fit to deal with that specific request. After so many years in the industry, we’ve had a wide variety of bizarre circumstances that have made it quite plain to me what qualities a customer should not possess. My greatest piece of advice would be to have a crystal clear picture of who your ideal customer is and how you would want to be treated by them. Always make sure to firmly enforce client boundaries and remind clients of them as necessary. It is a waste of one’s life to only labor for financial gain. As owners of a company, it is our responsibility to seek out customers who will make our lives very rich and satisfying. This will allow us to perform to the best of our abilities. Here’s to finding high-end customers that are excellent for your business because they are willing to work with you, have the funds to employ you, and recognize the value of the job you do. Have you ever dealt with any of these 11 different kinds of customers? If that’s the case, how did you deal with them? Regards, Susan Friesen, and best wishes for your continued success. Clients should be fired, clients should be released, clients should be nasty, clients should be inexpensive, and you should send this post to a friend! get email updates including stories much like this one right to your inbox. Today, you may get a free subscription!
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