Firing a customer....Mixed emotions.

[Dan Antonelli]

You always want to be mindful about the work you put out on the street. When you are busy it's easy to turn crap work down. When dealing with new clients I don't sugarcoat anything as it taints the relationship. I'm honest - and if they're current branding sucks you can bet I'm going to tell them. Even if they're coming to me for a website initially - if the logo sucks, I'm telling them. If I lose the job over it they are not the type of business owner I want to work with.

We work wonders with owners who understand that while they may be great at running their business - they can put ego aside and accept that they suck at marketing. If after working with over 500 small businesses on their marketing, and they still think they know more than me on the subject than, to put it simply, they're really not intelligent at all. Sadly, 95% of every small business falls into this category. Why? Too much ego. Smart owners seek the advice of those who are experts; ignorant owners firmly believe they know how to best market their company because it's theirs.

The other problem is complacency; which breeds a status quo mentality that locks a small business owner into believing their success is a result of their marketing genius. More often than not their success is in spite of their marketing and branding stupidity or missed opportunities. Imagine their success if only they had hired a pro and done it correctly.

I'm so anxious to launch our new web site because the copy and approach is very much about explaining what we do; how we can help; and why they should trust us.

 

[Dan Antonelli]

And thanks for thinking of me on the referral. I'm sure I would have backed up what you told him to begin with.

 

[Edserv]

We "walk the line" everyday with clients.
Part of our CRAZY occupation is dealing with people who are totally NUTS. They are. And we are (most of time) NUTS too!
If you really want to try to make sense of this, buy a copy of the "E-Myth Why Most Businesses Fail, and What to do about it" by Michael Gerber. It JUST might change your life. It changed mine.
Good luck,
Chris
lets go banners

 

[BobM]

When I see layouts/logos/artwork that I don't think work, I gently suggest some "minor" changes might be in order. Asking leading questions and being prepared to offer suggestions and rationale has helped turn some pritty poor designs into good advertising messages.

 

[Jillbeans]

I had two different potential clients yesterday, both referrals.
The first wanted some RTA window lettering, which I would have happily made, it's an easy job, etc. He calls.
It's a guy who sells light bars for rescue vehicles.
OK fine, I ask if he had a particular font choice in mind.
He says Mistral.

Sometimes I am way too blunt I know. But I had to bite back a bark of laughter.
Then I told him he needed a more masculine, legible approach.
He said he would look at some more fonts and call me back.
I doubt I'll hear from him again and that's OK, he wouldn't let me suggest any fonts.
After all, what do I know.

Second guy, who has an established business here for many years, with very mundane looking trucks, stops in.
He shows me a pic of his truck, which I have seen, and it's nothing to write home about.
But he realizes this. He says he wants a new look.
We swap ideas and I get a feel for what he's looking for.
He's buying a new logo, truck lettering, etc.
He was a dream to deal with.

I guess my mind immediately closed on the first guy, and I did not have the finesse to charm him. But he didn't really want to listen anyway.
The second guy knew he needed a change and he came to me for help.
Sometimes I think it's a control issue (for both me and the potential client)
They think they know what they need, and sometimes they are right.
But I know what they need, if they will allow me to give it to them.

And this morning I am going over to the customer I mentioned initially, and getting my damn check.
I know they will say it's been mailed.

 

[Deaton Design]

Sometimes customers think they know what they want, and if we try to offer any advice on ways to better it, we are crap. It weirds me out how people can see things so differently,and how some can have absolutely no taste at all. I was lettering a truck yesterday, and this fella drove up yakkin to me about different things, and then he says, boy, that last truck you did for my son looked great. I told him I didnt do the last one. Your son had it done somewhere else. That befuddled him a bit, and me too, as that particular truck was done horribly and looked like it was painted on with model car paint. But this guy thought it was great. Its in the perception of each individual, some of who have no taste for this type of thing at all. I told my son, who was with me, that the reason this guy liked that bad job on his sons truck, was because it was probably the way he would have done it himself, if given a brush and some model paint. Sometimes we just cant fight bad taste.

 

[JasperST]

There's always a fine line in this kind of business. I told a long time customer's employee that we didn't do that kind of work when she started sending me her signs designs, they looked terrible to me (it was a bit more diplomatic than that but...). Reputations are a hard thing to change. Well, I mean it's easier to go downhill than uphill.

That said, a name isn't up to the sign guy, unless they ask for feedback before they committed to it. Same with logos for that matter. My experience has been that if someone is committed to funky art, names, whatever, there are larger issues at play and we'll probably never see eye to eye. They also, coincidentally (not) seem to be the tightwads so letting them go becomes easy. Like minded people seem to have a way of finding each other.

 

[Gino]

I had two different potential clients yesterday, both referrals.
The first wanted some RTA window lettering, which I would have happily made, it's an easy job, etc. He calls.
It's a guy who sells light bars for rescue vehicles.
OK fine, I ask if he had a particular font choice in mind.
He says Mistral.

Sometimes I am way too blunt I know. But I had to bite back a bark of laughter.
Then I told him he needed a more masculine, legible approach.
He said he would look at some more fonts and call me back.
I doubt I'll hear from him again and that's OK, he wouldn't let me suggest any fonts.
After all, what do I know.

Second guy, who has an established business here for many years, with very mundane looking trucks, stops in.
He shows me a pic of his truck, which I have seen, and it's nothing to write home about.
But he realizes this. He says he wants a new look.
We swap ideas and I get a feel for what he's looking for.
He's buying a new logo, truck lettering, etc.
He was a dream to deal with.

I guess my mind immediately closed on the first guy, and I did not have the finesse to charm him. But he didn't really want to listen anyway.
The second guy knew he needed a change and he came to me for help.
Sometimes I think it's a control issue (for both me and the potential client)
They think they know what they need, and sometimes they are right.
But I know what they need, if they will allow me to give it to them.

And this morning I am going over to the customer I mentioned initially, and getting my damn check.
I know they will say it's been mailed.

Did ya snap any pictures of Mr Dreamie ??
​

 

[cmyimage]

Business is a trust/confidence thing. Has to be mutual. Dump the client if you can afford to do it.[/QUOTE]

Agree, We did encounter some hardship when we are doing our job. Even we have have to dump a client, we will try our best to make each party feel better about it. As I think money's problem is not a big problem, if it can be solved by money. I will work hard to earn 1 dollar, but I won't let one dollar make me feel unhappy, it just doesn't worth of it.