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| Business owner's rights / abusive customers
Posted: 12/11/2008 12:38:40 PM | | Yes! I've refused to work with clients..I referred them to others that may be able to help them more than I was able to..just to discover they had already turned them away. Fortunately, the customer is not ALWAYS right. As long as you are able to look back and know that you made the best decision for the both of you at that time, never will you have to compromise respect of yourself and that of the client. Good Luck :) | |
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| Business owner's rights / abusive customers
Posted: 12/11/2008 4:09:18 PM | well my problem is with a client that likes to 'bud in line'
I told him that I had 14 people infront of him,and that it would take awhile to complete his job. He waited awhile,then became impatient....
I started to work on his job a bit so I could not just tell him to go elsewhere
Because he screamed at me ,I put him INFRONT of clients just to get him off my back.Now my nice/good clients are waiting because of...."the squeaky wheel"
what should I do?
how much abuse is too much abuse?
where do you draw the line?
Based on this new information, here's what I would do to prevent this from happening in the future.
- Put up a sign saying "First Come, First Served"
- Put up a sign saying "Rush Jobs Additional Cost" and set up a different rate for rush jobs. Make it high enough so that you don't feel bad about being abused. In the end, we're all just whores and we all have our price. 
- Anyone asks for special treatment, point to the signs. Unless it's a hot chick. | |
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| Business owner's rights / abusive customers
Posted: 12/11/2008 5:12:28 PM | [well my problem is with a client that likes to 'bud in line'
I told him that I had 14 people infront of him,and that it would take awhile to complete his job. He waited awhile,then became impatient....
I started to work on his job a bit so I could not just tell him to go elsewhere
Because he screamed at me ,I put him INFRONT of clients just to get him off my back.Now my nice/good clients are waiting because of...."the squeaky wheel"
what should I do?
how much abuse is too much abuse?
where do you draw the line?]
Ok, very calmly, if possible, tell this client, "I'm very sorry, but due to overload of clients who have come in before your request, I am currently finishing the previous, while doing my best to satisfy your urgent request. I certainly want to full fill your needs, if you are willing to wait, but if your needs are so urgent, I'll be glad to give you a referral. That's right, send him to someone else, or get someone else to do the job, taking a loss. Save the receipts to write off tax season, as a loss. If you can't find a win, win situation here for yourself and this client, let it go, but don't shoot yourself in the foot, as far as your reputation goes. Do it, but do it nice, you'll get better rewards for business, in taking a step back, before proceeding to take care of this situation.
That is the best I can do. | |
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| Business owner's rights / abusive customers
Posted: 12/11/2008 6:05:26 PM | wow, this is all great advice.
I think what I have to do in the future is to draft up a 'customer service policy'
which covers my position on these issues. I have avoided do it in the past,because I run 'happy good feeling/once I meet you your are a friend for life" kinda business.
Most deals are done with a smile and a handshake ....handing them a list of bad sitution senerios....is kinda like asking a girl to marry you and then quickly handing her a pre nup.....99.9% of my customers are jems
' ALMOST no schmucks served in 5 yrs" is another sign I should put up too | |
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| Business owner's rights / abusive customers
Posted: 12/12/2008 7:47:41 AM | Thanks to pssst for listing ducttapemarketing.com. I deal with a lot of new clients (and sometimes clients who have been in business for a while) who do not know how to deal with their customers or do not know how to market themselves effectively. As such, There are some things I have to explain to them in order to help them protect themselves from those customers who are p!@#$% off at the world and go after the nearest target (being my customers).
The same goes with the occasional customer that I deal with when I am at the job that pays the bills. It is unfortunate that customers treat employees in the service sector worse than what they treat themselves. I was brought up to always treat people with the same amount of dignity and grace as you would wish to be treated.
As such, if someone is dissatisfied on my service of ringing them up and cashing them out (each transaction I make used to have an average of 3 seconds. It's probably longer now due to glitchy software), they always have the option to go somewhere else. Granted, it might hurt the profit of your business by losing that customer, but is it really worth the verbal abuse and physical and emotional stress that customer causes you? In the end it is usually worth the decision to cut them. Remember- They came to you for your expertise, not the other way around. | |
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| Business owner's rights / abusive customers
Posted: 12/12/2008 11:11:42 AM | as a small and medium business owner for the past 25 years
it never gets better
at the first sign of disrespect to you and your time fire the customer
and i mean the first sign
send them to your competitors
if you do not the problems will just get bigger and bigger
a small % will change their attitude and become great customers
those that go to your competitors are doing you a great favour
they bog your competitors down
and leave you free to soar
dont take on problems and if half way through - cash out give them a fair refund and get yourself out
you teach others how to treat you - dr phil | |
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| Business owner's rights / abusive customers
Posted: 12/12/2008 4:16:27 PM | It's does complicate things if you already started the work. You want to get paid for what your time, and if all he did was yell you- though I don't condone it- it could still end well.
Barring any other complications that might be involved that we don't know about it, I would finish the work, and make it very clear that next time, he would be waiting. Or alternatively, like I often do- if they are going to be pain in ass customer, then I make them pay for it by charging them more for the job. If they still use you, you know your position is a little stronger, and you're being compensated for the hassle.
as a small and medium business owner for the past 25 years
it never gets better
at the first sign of disrespect to you and your time fire the customer
and i mean the first sign
send them to your competitors
if you do not the problems will just get bigger and bigger
a small % will change their attitude and become great customers
those that go to your competitors are doing you a great favour
they bog your competitors down
and leave you free to soar
Unfortunately, this most closely mimics my experience in the last 10 years (and I also mentioned it in a previous post in this thread). I've only had a few times where it got better, and most of the time, when it did go bad, I was the one who got screwed for unpaid service. And even those few occassions where it did get better, I wasn't always thrilled to still be there. The clients were still pita's, they just knew not to push my buttons. I might not go so far as to say "fire" them at he first sign of disrespect, as that is sometimes a matter of interpretation- but if definitely means to be on the look out for further behavior and be ready to put your foot down.
A bad business relationship can mirror a bad romantic relationship in so many ways, it's sometimes eerie. You want to make sure there's no saving it before you pull the plug and say good bye, but when you're finally out of the relationship and see things more clearly- you realize you should have said goodbye a long time ago.
I can also agree that if you're generally doing a decent job taking care of your customers, resources will be freed up from losing these deadbeats, and eventually someone will take their place.
A BIG key to this though- and is an even lengthier discussion than this one, so I will be brief here- is setting the tone early. This is going to sound weird, but don't be too eager to please. A lot of people who don't start out as pitas become that way because of how they perceive you and how you react to their demands. Whether it's conscious or not, they will start to see you as a push over if you never draw a line- and will become more aggressive and respect you (and your time) less and less. | |
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| Business owner's rights / abusive customers
Posted: 12/12/2008 7:16:07 PM | In Canada, unless bound by Contract or other Agreement, you can refuse Service to anyone...
Even when bound by contract there are still a few techniques... Recision is whereby you return both parties to the point pre-contract. Best example is return the merchandise and return their money. Another is frustration whereby you'd like to comply with the contract, but you can't for reasons beyond your control - the ship delivering the goods was hijacked by pirates, etc...
I have a rule of thumb with clients - the more they piss me off, the more I bill them. I don't jack my rates, but I make sure I bill them for every penny I'm entitled to like mileage, travel time, parking, prep time... After I complete the work as promised, I just do not act for them again. I tell them I'm busy and suggest another.
Prior to opening my own biz, I had over 25 years customer service. One trick I learned when dealing with abusive clients is to become politely correct. Hard to maintain composure under fire, but if you can pull it off - it works... they more they scream - let them... don't flinch or react. Then inquire politely if they are done. If they interrupt, wait, then start over in a mild, but quiet voice. It forces them to listen. In most cases they apologize. For those of you with kids, its the same as a temper tantrum... try to remember if their reaction is really outta whack - it may not be you per se, but you do train people how to treat you. Frosty polite works well.
In the case of the rude man with 14 clients ahead of him, suggest he take it elsewhere or accept his place in line. Be firm, but polite. You do not have to serve anyone and if they persist after you've asked them to leave, you can ban them from the premises. Issue a trespass notice. Check your local state/provincial offences.
Most deals are done with a smile and a handshake ....99.9% of my customers are jems' ALMOST no schmucks served in 5 yrs" is another sign I should put up too You've been lucky, but as someone who deals with contracts and litigation on a daily basis - a verbal contract is not worth the paper its printed on. Get it in writing. It protects both parties and is an everyday, smart way of doing business. | |
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| Business owner's rights / abusive customers
Posted: 12/12/2008 11:54:32 PM |
A BIG key to this though- and is an even lengthier discussion than this one, so I will be brief here- is setting the tone early. This is going to sound weird, but don't be too eager to please. A lot of people who don't start out as pitas become that way because of how they perceive you and how you react to their demands. Whether it's conscious or not, they will start to see you as a push over if you never draw a line- and will become more aggressive and respect you (and your time) less and less.
This is an absolutely excellent point. Once you've stepped over that line and set a precedent, it's almost impossible to go back. These customers will usully feel they are "special" people from then on and will try to escalate their status in the future.
If anything, when I encounter customers who come in with that "hop to it, but only for me" attitude, I actually begin to slow down. Sorry, but I'm not a trained pony that one hires by the hour to do their bidding. I will not extend any goodwill discounts to them. The extras that I may perform, but which is not a part of the listed service won't be done. On occasion I will tell them, "Sorry. This job is beyond the scope of what I am able to do at present."
Here's another phrase for the overly-demanding: "I understand that you have high expectations that this will make something that's nearly dead perform like new. I'll have to ask you to sign this waiver stating that this, in fact, is NOT what the results will be."...This has saved me several times when they insisted they wanted to go ahead anyway, and as expected, were disappointed with the results. I would point to the waiver.
("YOU! NO SOUP! ONE YEAR! ...NEXT!!!" Maybe they should start a "Soup Nazi" business school on customer relations. Get those customers all lined up and squared away before they step in to do business.) | |
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| Business owner's rights / abusive customers
Posted: 12/13/2008 8:04:12 AM | The customer is ALWAYS right!!!
Uh.... No.
The customer is there for your service, your expertise, your advice, your product.... You are there to serve, advise, provide.... Customer's are rarely right, but they do pay the bills (providing they pay their bills)... "The customer is always right" is a bad policy. It is a symbiotic relationship that should be to the mutual benefit of both parties. No one has the right to abuse the other.
Picking up on a point made earlier about PITA's (tehe) and referrals... I had a client's competitor walk into my office - told him it was a conflict of interest - literally put my fingers in my ears chanting LA LA LA - DONT WANNA HEAR IT.... gave him some generic free advice and said adios, thinking little of it. I since have had more business from his referrals than any other source. Talk about irony. He liked that I said NO. | |
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