Tough Customers

If you've been in business for a while chances are you've had to deal with an awkward customer. You know what I mean.  They take up a lot of time wanting to know minute details about what they're buying, they have a hundred questions about your product or service, they want discounts or freebies and they want it all yesterday.  Once you've made the sale maybe they're not happy with their purchase and sometimes, that's just because they've changed their mind or found it cheaper in the meantime! They make you want to scream (or worse).  But you should take the silver lining that these complainers and whiners offer.

Some of the best lessons I've learnt in business have been from difficult customers.  The details they complain about are often valuable clues to improving your business.  They don't like how their invoice was formatted - is there a more streamlined way you could prepare your invoices?  Th postage was too expensive - when was the last time you did a postage and packaging review to see if you're getting the best value?  Your product or service is too expensive - are you clearly promoting the benefits of your product in all of your sales literature?  When you get a complaint ask yourself if there is something you can learn from it?  Is there an opportunity for you to find an improvement in the way you're doing things?

I would offer one word of caution.  If you have a regular customer who behaves in this way you have to ask yourself how much it's costing you in time and aggravation to service this customer.  It's believed that 20% of your customers can suck up 80% of your time.  Eliminating high maintenance customers may not only be a huge relief, it may also be a cost effective thing to do!

Till next time,

Sarah-Jane X