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Is It OK To Fire A Customer Or Is The Customer Always Right? |
By:
Michael Gravette |
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That's what you've always been told. If you're in business, you
know how ridiculous that statement is. The customer isn't always
right, the customer is often wrong. Worse yet, you know it, he
knows it, and he knows you know. However, that is not the reason
you fire a customer.
Sometimes a confrontational attitude is just a way for a
customer to save face when he knows it was his fault and not
yours. There is nothing wrong with letting the customer save
face. You apologize for the screw-up and tell him it will be
taken care of and, sometimes, this leads to a very good
relationship with that customer. Sometimes not.
There will be customers that no matter what you do, it's not
right or good enough. They seem to want an argument, not fix the
problem. The more you try to appease them, the more aggressive
they get.
Even though you may want to please every customer, you just
can't. It really hurts when you can't please a customer. I've
been in business for 20 years and it still feels like a kick in
the gut when I can't please a customer. You may get 100 "what a
great job you are doing" from customers, but that one complaint
stays with you. Hopefully, you're tougher than I am and will be
able to deal with complaints without the emotional trauma.
Few customers understand what a business owner goes through to
build his business: the problems that have to be dealt with; the
vendors that give you headaches and always the shortage of
money. The last thing you want to do is screw-up an order or
offend a customer.
Every business owner needs a "pain in the ass" measuring stick
that tells him when the pain and aggravation out-weighs the
money. This measuring stick will be different for each business
owner based on his tolerance for bad customers and his need for
the money from that customer. You have to decide for yourself
when you've had enough.
So, its OK to fire customers. Just make sure you've thought
about it and its not just a reaction from the heat of the
moment. There is a certain peace that comes from firing a really
bad customer.
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Article Source: http://www.powerdirectory.net/articles/article51024.html |
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