Your criteria for firing a customer

[Gino]

I know I've fired some customers over the years, but for the most part.... they ended up firing themselves without realizing it.

I don't believe in burning bridges, so I just up my price to deal with arrogant a$$holes to the point they feel they have to go elsewhere. That way, if they ever return, we can try it over again.... and at an even better pay-scale than before.

I will not tolerate someone being nasty to my people and I've already taken a horrible fight between one of my employees and a customer and told them both to shut the F**K up and conduct business when inside and if they want to continue their argument, my employee could take off and go outside on his own time. It was a stupid fight and I couldn't back either or. The customer was an old friend of over 30 years and a really nice guy along with being a very good customer always buying quite a lot of work over the years. The employee was a part-timer, but I told him I would back him, until neither of them would stop.
Jim, my friend, still gets signs from us and the part-timer is long gone... only because he couldn't do what was asked of him during his stay with us. There's more to the story, but it's for a different kinda thread.

 

[thinksigns]

90% of the customers I've fired over the years have been apartment complexes. Things start out great for a year or so then they start slow paying. The next thing you know, they have changed management companies. The old company says they don't handle that property anymore and the new company says they didn't manage when the signs were ordered. So many of them have pulled this crap that I swear it has to be part of their business plan.

The biggest one placed about $3,000 in orders for different complexes. Another company took over within 45 days. I gave up after a month of calls and emails without a response. She had the nerve to call me a year later to order some signs saying she promises I will get paid this time. I told her I'm not doing a thing for her until I get paid for her last order. Some people...

 

[Kottwitz-Graphics]

or their they started getting wages garnished, All reasons I have had to fire people.

Dude, that is illeagal, and the fine is $1000...

 

[mark in tx]

Criteria;

Non-payment within a reasonable amount of time.

Customers sense of self-importance outweighs the profit margin.

Customer yells, screams, or acts ignorant on a recurring basis.

Pretty much boils down to the fact that I can choose to do business with who I want to.

 

[andy]

I dumped one for being rude to me. She was real piece of work... demanding, condesending and an expert in graphic design, branding and sign fabrication. After a few choice encounters with her and her "assistant" (part time book keeper) I told her she could no longer afford me. It still makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Let me guess.... the kind of person who supplies you with files and drawings which they insist you make "their" way using the materials they've decided are the most suitable.... you can't argue because you're an idiot without the expertise they have....

Then, when you're stood next to a wonky pile of cr@p this kind of customer turns to you ashen faced "oh, my god... that looks like $hit... what have you done"?

"Um... followed your instructions to the letter and kept my mouth shut about the laughably amateurish "concept" and construction plan you gave me"

"But why didn't you TELL me that I'd got it wrong... you moron"

"ah, you're not paying me to design and write a specification... I offered you a few suggestions about the right way to make this job. If you remember I told you that you needed more expensive materials which you didn't want to pony up for".

"Yeah, whatever... when are you going to redo the job using those better materials you mentioned"?

"er, are you going to pay me to do this job again from scratch"?

"No"

"Goodbye".

That's my number one reason to fire people... idiots who aren't as clever as they think they are and want to make their learning curve entirely at your expense.... nutters.

 

[NoMovingParts]

Andy nails it.

 

[Fitch]

"Huh... I've not yet had any of my clients be rude but at the moment I'm dealing with one who nitpicks every little detail. But the only client I fired was based on I started getting the little 'picky' jobs - like running an hour out to a site to change the price on a sales sign. We had a good relationship for years - good, steady orders, and for some reason I started to get the dregs of a new building site. The final straw was doing one of those price changes and finding a tractor trailer box on site with nice new full color banners down both sides and new directional signs everywhere. Knew nothing about the want for those and the client hemmed and hawed about not giving me the chance to bid it out. See ya! "

EXACTLY the same thing happened to me. No longer a client. Told them it's all or nothing. I was only getting the crap anyway.

 

[Custom_Grafx]

I quit smoking almost 3 years ago. I was a 2 pack a day smoker.

My answer is... "anyone who makes me feel like starting again"

 

[James Burke]

I quit smoking almost 3 years ago. I was a 2 pack a day smoker.

My answer is... "anyone who makes me feel like starting again"

 

[Mosh]

Any customer who tells me how the last guy sucked and so and so. Most of the time it was not that the last guy sucked, it was cause the customer did.

Or when they tell me that it will only take me 10 minutes to put it through my computer! FIRED.

OR they tell me how by doing this job for cheap they are going to get me 15,578 new customers, cause everyone is going to see Billy-Bob's Mowing service signs and he is going to tell them who did them...FIRED!

 

[ProWraps]

Any customer who tells me how the last guy sucked and so and so. Most of the time it was not that the last guy sucked, it was cause the customer did.

smart talk right there. i have learned the same thing. when a customer says "so and so blah blah" i instantly realized they were a fired client.

 

[Border]

I have my limits and a customer who thinks THEIR time is oh so much more valuable than MY time is one of my peeves. I fired such a customer last year and he attempted to come crawling back several months later with an email about how he thought I was so great and he was really in a pinch and needed my expert service once again (and right now!) to get him out of a bind.
All I did was reply with the attachment below which I think I pirated from someone else's post on this forum a couple years ago. No other message or words, just this picture. I just LOVE this picture!
It's the perfect firing tool for a tool that deserves to be fired.
PS....I never heard back from him after that but I bet he thinks I must be really messed up. I'm OK with that because I am!

 

[Pat Whatley]

Not that I'm saying anything about anyone on this thread about firing customers but something I've noticed over the last few years is that the people who seem really quick to fire their customers also seem to be the same people complaining about a lack of work a few months later.

Maybe a better tactic would be to raise prices on the PITA customers until they either go away on their own or you're making enough money on them to make it worth your time.

Just a thought....and now that I've said it maybe I'll remember to do it myself.

 

[Mosh]

If you don't have work you need to kiss every customer's butt that walk into the door!!!Even if you don't you need to, to some degree. BUT the MOSH is a different breed! I do NO advertising, and customers look him out. I am in the posision that I take the jobs I want and send the rest down the road...60 miles to the next shop.

 

[Custom_Grafx]

I find that most of the troublesome clients aren't willing to wait for a quality product. It's almost always needed very quickly, and required very cheap - a combination which is unwelcome in any profession - unless you're in the oldest one.

If you tell a client that you're busy (which you should be if you're good - and if you're not busy you should be getting busy looking for GOOD clients), and that he needs to wait for up to 2 weeks for what he's asking for - unless he pays you express service rates, then just tell em that's the way the mop flops. Most of them don't stick around long. For the things I do, I know I'm quick, reasonably priced, and I also provide good customer service. Gotta stay strong and confident in the face of those clients. The ones who are troublesome, but want to pay extra, I turn the tables and become even more troublesome than them, by requesting prepayment in full. After a while some of them realise that there are some good people in this world. Others will leave you and try to find the next victim who is "nice" (dumb) enough to wait for their payment without telling them off.

One hour spent with them or on their work, is one hour I could have spent to get a better client who would be worth more money, and give me more job satisfaction. If I don't end up doing any work in that one hour... then good - at least I know I spent an hour looking for the type of client I want and not the other way around.

 

[Mosh]

This is the downfall of having a good location and showroom. You get loads of "tire-kickers" and ol' ladies wanting a design on a mailbox. Hours of time spent on them wanting a $20 letter job.The price to pay to be in a good location.

 

[mikey-Oh]

All I did was reply with the attachment below which I think I pirated from someone else's post on this forum a couple years ago. No other message or words, just this picture. I just LOVE this picture!

Save to D:/Design/CustomerRelations/ThoseWhoDontgetIt

 

[mikey-Oh]

This is the downfall of having a good location and showroom. You get loads of "tire-kickers" and ol' ladies wanting a design on a mailbox. Hours of time spent on them wanting a $20 letter job.The price to pay to be in a good location.

Wait, I thought you offered mailbox letters for $4.32... really fxckin confused now. Long ago, you mentioned my favorite method for business management what is real, what is fake?! Hit me up here or on facebook.... as my faith's being shook

 

[Custom_Grafx]

Offered a guy $80 once to do him a nice custom artwork - he started screwing around. sent him to a graphic designer who quoted him $350. he came back asking bla bla... i replied "go to *bay and get urself some generic signs"

 

[toli13]

...

OR they tell me how by doing this job for cheap they are going to get me 15,578 new customers, cause everyone is going to see Billy-Bob's Mowing service signs and he is going to tell them who did them...FIRED!

These guys are always my best friends. Last week in the evening a guy from a constructors company knocked my door. Shop was already closed. I'd never seen him before. Asked me for 2 € for the tram and said, in the next days he will come with some orders. May be, I've never got these orders because I didn't gave him my money. Funny.