Is it OK to turn down work?

[kanini]

It's difficult to turn down jobs. I started out as a one man show and when we've grown as a company we have to turn down also old customers who pays too little and interferes with profitable work. It's tough when you've been used to be happy about every job coming in but it is neccessary. It is important HOW you turn them down as well, I think you should try to answer all incoming requests, maybe create a copy-paste answer along the lines of "Thank you for your request but unfortunately our production is not suitable for this job etc." or something similar. Need to have friendly customer service all the time. You never know who is doing the request and it could be the relative to some big purchaser...

That said it's wise to turn down unprofitable/unsuitable work but to learn doing that has been a challenge at least for me. Now I have to get some of my employees to understand that, since at least one of them thinks we should do every small job because it "could lead to somehing bigger"...

 

[billsines]

Haha, yea come December or early January I'll take anything that comes in the door.



But yes.. declining work is a good part of growing you're business. I am careful to speak politely to people and make sure I can point them in the right direction.

Someone called about putting letters on a golf ball, said the called every sign company in town (I did not laugh but explained that our machines are not capable of that.) While I was on the phone with her I did a quick Google search and saw that Personalization Mall made them! I was able to get her answer and told her I've used them a few times and they are legit. She was extremely thankful for the help.

She will remember that and it may turn into future work for you. Kudos!

 

[ddarlak]

In the last 4 months I turned down a 15K and 25K job from the same client, ridicules time schedule would have broke my sanity wide open.

 

[JTBoh]

You do have to be careful with "who" you turn down sometimes - take a look at your vertical markets. Anyone with potential to be a repeat customer, or with the potential to buy big-ticket items, should be given priority.

Example of someone you might have to drag through some jobs for:
Construction companies, property managers, etc.

Someone you should really just fire and get it over with:
Bob Wilson's mailbox decals, any/all realtors, churches (though there are notable $30k exceptions on the latter)

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

churches (though there are notable $30k exceptions on the latter)

So cold...

 

[JTBoh]

So cold...

Well... I'm sure many people here have dealt with a church committee over a $200 job, and watched it drag on for weeks, had to go after hours to meet with the committee, and had trouble recouping payment. Not to mention the price haggling... oh, the price haggling.

 

[Gino]

Everyone wants to grow their business, from the cobbler down the street to the people who build submarines. I'm sure the one-man cobbler store isn't gonna want a contract from the Greater Colombian Army footwear, just as I'm sure the Newport News Shipbuilding and General Dynamics Electric Boat company doesn't want to build kayaks. However, myself, I've learned not to turn work away, if I could find a means to do it.... or explain what I'll do to help a potential customer. I can't tell you how many times, a small job turned into a large client. Not always the lady who came in for a birthday banner or the guy who wanted his windshield lettered across the top, but they have relatives or acquaintances who listen when they talk. Ya hafta learn how to listen, instead of just doing all the talking. Of course, we've all heard the stories about, if you do this for me..... I will get this for you. They're a dime a dozen, but everyone once in a while, it happens. Sometimes getting your foot in the door can really help ya grow your business, so just be careful when firing customers.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

You do have to be careful with "who" you turn down sometimes - take a look at your vertical markets. Anyone with potential to be a repeat customer, or with the potential to buy big-ticket items, should be given priority.

This is literally the worst advice... Giving them priority due to potential is the quickest way to lose loyal clients. Take it from me, we used to focus on a client that quickly became 70% of our income. Their demands were ridiculous and always wanted it for less. We would lose all but the most loyal clients due to them consuming all of our time. We have since stopped working with them for the most part due to us no longer prioritizing their work and them threatening to stop using us... It has been the most relieving decision we have made, the shop is happier and we have developed so many new clients that have become fiercely loyal and growing rapidly! The client we stopped working with has done $3+ million with us over 8 years.

So to answer the OPs question, yes it's ok and healthy to turn down work and clients.[/QUOTE]

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Well... I'm sure many people here have dealt with a church committee over a $200 job, and watched it drag on for weeks, had to go after hours to meet with the committee, and had trouble recouping payment. Not to mention the price haggling... oh, the price haggling.

I've never been asked to show up to a church board meeting to discuss a $200 sign... nor have I as a board member ever required any vendor do that. Even spending $10k on parking lot or $6k on HVAC we never did that.

Sure I've had to wait for approval on a bid because it has to go before a board, but so do signs I make for the city and some other places...the wait don't bother me.

I wouldn't show up for some $200 sign...that's a waste of time

 

[kcollinsdesign]

I will generally not turn down work, but there are customers that I prefer not to work with. I will try to point them in another direction. If they insist, I will take on the work with the usual caveats: nothing free, no discounts, no drawings or field surveys until contract signed and deposit collected.

My standard terms do a good job of keeping undesireable clients away.

 

[binki]

We not only turn down work that is unprofitable we also fire customers that become unprofitable. They either change over time or we just flat out made a mistake taking their work to begin with.

 

[Bobby H]

No sign company should operate as if it is a charity. Good clients understand that. If there isn't a mutually beneficial arrangement in doing a job, being able to make least some money off of the work, then we won't do it. If the client wants to take the project to a rival sign company that's fine.

All customers want to pay as little as possible for something. It doesn't matter if it's a first-time customer or a long time client trying to test the limits of the professional relationship. A few clients can be very pushy and even try to play hardball. They'll act like they know all your operational costs and margins when 99% of the time they don't know squat. It's better to show some back bone and be willing to let the client walk. Compromising principals, cutting prices and doing whatever else to chase after what may be a no-profit PITA job can come off as an act of desperation.

It's rare, but we've had some clients operate from the perspective that they're losing money if you make any money at all on a project. They may even feel like they've won and beat you at the game of biz-ness if they make you lose money on a project. That's their idea of getting a bargain. They make demands that anything you order have no mark-up; they want it at cost. They also think your time and labor should be had 100% free of charge. I'm all too happy to see clients like that get directed to the door and told not to return.

We do very little work for private individuals, such dressing up someone's mailbox or putting graphics on a personal vehicle. Far too often such customers want Sistine Chapel artistry for Walmart prices. Messing with any of that stuff can be a massive time vampire.

Very often there are practical reasons for turning down a project. We've been really busy lately and have a pretty serious back-log of work. If someone wants us to bid on a project, but it has a really difficult deadline we'll tell them our current turn-around time. If they can't accept that we'll mention a couple other companies they can contact.

If you turn down a project that does not mean you're permanently burning bridges with that client. Each project is its own deal. Not everyone is going to be a faithful repeat customer. We've had lots of people try us on one project, go to a competitor on another project and then come back to us later. If you're doing decent quality work, making customers happy and managing to squeak out at least a few percentage points of profit there's no reason to worry about turning away a project that seems like a bad deal.

 

[Andy D]

There are shops that take anything that walked in the door, that's (IMHO) is a recipe for failure... No one can be good at everything & you can't be all things to all people.
The most profitable businesses, regardless of the trade, specialize as much as they can.
Personally, I wouldn't touch a personal vehicle, people are way too picky & will worry the h*ll out of you over the price when it's theirs.

 

[mark-s]

Now that I`m semi retired I only take on jobs that make it interesting and no barter on price.
mark-s

 

[Sindex Printing]

I almost never turn down jobs (I have fired a couple customers). When I get the requests for jobs that the customer needs ASAP if not sooner I have some amazing people and other shops that I work with that will take on overflow and rush jobs. I have even found a couple of these people that will come to me and do the job in my shop. (There is a special price structure for this kind of service.) Offering this to potential customers has led in some amazing customers and some great jobs from them later down the road.