Firing customers

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When I owned our heating and air conditioning business we had a customer who owned a number of rental properties.  He had used our business even before I took it over, but he often complained about our work and especially our prices.  Nearly every bill he received sent him into orbit.  One day he came into our office yelling at our office administrator about the bill he received and promising to never do business with us again.  When I went to the office later she was still upset.  I explained that I hated to lose a long time customer too, but we would probably be better off without the drama his business always created.

A few weeks later I answered the phone, and it was him calling about an apartment that needed the HVAC repaired.  I reminded him of his outburst the last time we did work for him and told him I was under the impression he was not going to use our company any more.  He gave a nervous chuckle and responded that since he had used us for so long there wasn't any sense in calling another company now.  I thanked him for that but then explained, "We will be glad to do business with you, but we will not tolerate any more outbursts like the last one.  We have always been fair with our pricing to you and always will.  If you have a question about a bill you receive from us, please call me about it, and as long as you are reasonable in the conversation then I will be glad to talk with you.  If you get out of control like I heard you did the last time I will hang up and we will never do another job for you.  Are these conditions acceptable?"  He said they were; we did the work he asked us to do, and he never again complained about any of our work or our bills.

Running a small business is tough enough without having to deal with unreasonable people.  I gave him a second chance only because he had been such a long-term customer.  There were others we simply refused to do any further work for after our first encounter with them.  Their expectations were unreasonable and their attitudes were toxic.  Trying to collect the money they owed us was often a challenge.  They were exactly the kind of customers we were glad to see our competitors have.

When someone is starting out they are afraid to turn away any business.  That is understandable, but it's not healthy for you or for your company.  Such clients will often cost you more time and money than what their business is worth, and they will stop doing business with you if they can save a nickle by patronizing your competitor.  If you find someone consistently complains about your product or service, wants you to lower your prices, and expects you to provide him or her with priority service over all your other clients you have a customer that you probably need to fire.   Chances are you'll see little difference in your company's bottom line at the end of the year, and you'll find that operating your business is a lot more enjoyable once the're gone.  For more about the dangers of being too loyal to the wrong customers be sure to read my e-book Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions that Will Close Your Small Business.