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Advise on horrible customer

Stacey K

Stacey K

I like making signs
rydods said:
I would say the deadlines are reasonable and doesn't necessarily expect me to drop everything but he does feel he should get a bit more attention. I would say his expectations is to have a proof for just about anything within 24 hours. Be on point with the design he was expecting. (This is where we fell off the tracks) His communication of things is not very direct. It's like he likes to try to talk with dialect that is beyond what he was taught in school because it's supposed to be professional or something. Most of the time, I have my entire staff reading his emails to make sure I understand it correctly. He also clearly doesn't communicate things to his workers or they just don't care but by the time I get the message or finally get the design right, now we're behind.
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I can picture this guy in my mind. Sounds like he's not very organized and trying to fill some shoes he knows he can't (his grandpa). I would struggle working with this guy and I would probably be nice too long then one day I would blow and tell him to kiss my a$$.
 
Stacey K

Stacey K

I like making signs
Then you have those that take it to the extreme...like this guy, who is a retired engineer. Most of his drawings appear to be done on a drafting table and include specific directions like the attached.

He was very concerned about how this would fit on a banner and if the fonts would be ok according to his calculations. I said, "I just type it out and make sure it's readable and there's white space, I don't measure everything ahead." Almost had to call the ambulance, he could not understand how I didn't do the calculations ahead...LOL
 

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Eforcer

Eforcer

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rydods said:
We have had a financially amazing customer for 10 years now and for the most part things have gone smoothly until the last few years. The grandson of this particular company has become more of a dominant role and his attitude is getting worse. He treats his employees terribly and I've seen this first hand. He's also begun to do the same to me. His latest was telling me to "pull my head out of my a**" and stop spending time on my other customers and focus on them more. (My employees, wife and son all saw this email)

I personally feel we provide a great service and I know many of their employees love us. We always put more focus on making sure we streamline their orders and we deliver once a week, 2 hour drive total.

We don't have any formal contracts and they do not own any part of our business however they're sales are almost half of what we do in a year. Losing them as a customer would hurt significantly, but it would not put us out of business.

I'm interested in how you all would handle my situation. Should I "suck it up buttercup"? Call him and try to come to some sort of understanding and reasoning? Or tell him that he does not dictate my business, what he said was extremely unprofessional and if you're not happy find someone else to take your abuse? At this moment, I'm leaning toward the latter.
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In my business, I have fired 5 accounts in the last 10 years. One was an easy 45K a year and the impression I've made to my employees have more than paid off. I've worked very hard to get this place to where it's at. When you fire one you just replace them with another account. Hopefully, one that respects you and your staff. But before you do. Approach him with an "Grand Opening Attitude" Big Smile and say. We have worked hard for your company and now we have to reimagine this relationship. We are proud of our services and employees. But if this relationship continues down this path I'm afraid we will have to part. Thank you PERIOD!

He won't care, but when other vendors screw up, or feel the same, the higher up's will take notice. I personally know, I have an account that pleaded for us to continue. $$$$ is back and relationship is GOLD...

IMO


My prior business was CopyThat NYC and our slogan was. "You may copy our business, but you can never copy our service"


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Stacey K

Stacey K

I like making signs
JBurton said:
Wait, is this f*cking real? Did he print this copy out and bring it to you? This is, without a doubt, the single most amazing piece of customer supplied directions I've ever seen!
And shame on you for not nodding along and saying, "Yup, looks to be what I'd come up with."
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LOL!! Yup, it's 100% true! All of his jobs are like this, he usually has "technical drawings" to go along with instructions.
 
Troy Lesher

Troy Lesher

New Member
theres a lot of business on the line here with what looks like on the surface as a personality conflict. Identify his personality trait which sounds to me like a HIgh "A"Type (according to the Jenkins scale) next identify your own type. then you can better understand him , his motivations and ego state. You potentially will discover why it impacts you the way it does. with some new information you might be able to come up with a strategy to get the relationship back on a solid track.

just a different perspective.
 
edcooleyar

edcooleyar

Premium Subscriber
Been there, the only solution is to do the best you can and replace the business. At some point you get enough B******* that you have to move on. In 30 years I’ve only had to fire one customer. Usually when you’ve had enough and tell them to take a hike they straighten up. Your mistake is allowing them to be 50% of your business. Not good for you, your employees or your comfort level.
 
M

mark galoob

New Member
5o% of my business gives me [quite a bit of tolerance for bull shit but that said I have fired a few big assholes that we’re 5figure clients
 
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