Got an email today from a reader, Ken asking about how to deal with unhappy customers. His question: “I have a customer that I am constantly doing so much for, but they don’t see it. I give them extensions on payments, I add incentives, I give away free services, but still they are unhappy. I’m at a loss. What can I do to please them?” Ken, most likely you never will. I know the quickest way to failure is trying to make everyone happy… Some people will never be happy with the work you do. The meal is too hot or cold, the design isn’t right, what they were happy with before, they aren’t happy with now. In business, it’s going to happen, no matter how good you are. There isn’t a lot you can do about it because they just can’t be satisfied. MOST of the time it’s because they don’t see or know the real value of what you are doing.
When dealing with customers, I try to go above and beyond as much as I can. When by contract I’m required to spend 2 hours a month on something, I’ll spend a day or more. Sometimes a few days. When I’m required to build a 10 page website, I’ll build 20. When it would cost a client thousands to hire someone to shoot and edit a video, I’ll snap it and deliver it for free. Why do I do this? Because I care and try to over-deliver. I will often throw in extras at no charge just to do something more to show value for being my customer. This is often to my own detriment because many take advantage of the generosity. I believe those unadvertised bonuses make a huge difference, but you have to also be careful to not train them to expect free stuff and extensions all the time. Make sure they see the value behind the extras. Show them how long it takes, how much value you are giving them. Show them what you normally charge for the extras.
No matter how great a job you do, there are some folks that just won’t see the value though. Those types you need to get rid of. When you focus your attention on the people that do not appreciate what you do for them, you can’t focus on the ones that do. The extra 20 hours you spent trying to please that one person who will never be happy with you or doesn’t value what you do, could be spent going after a new client that will. How many phone calls to prospective clients could you make in 20 hours? Fire your bad customers. I have personally fired at least 10 my lifetime. It just wasn’t worth keeping them around. You shouldn’t waste time trying to validate them being a customer with you. If you did quality work for them, and they don’t see it, let them go hang themselves with a different business that won’t offer as much value. Let them see just how great they had it. Focus on getting customers that love your work. Ditch the ones that don’t. There is too much money to be made with people that will value what you do. Up front, you may lose a little bit of money from that customer, but in the long run you will be happier, have much less stress and be more profitable.
