CUSTOMER BUSINESS Douglas Hanna
How do you deal with a troublesome customer that you want to get rid of?
Every company will have customers that are troublesome. There will always be the customers that aren’t anywhere near profitable and are in fact, a major pain. Getting rid of those difficult customers is tricky. Your question is a question asked by almost every entrepreneur who works with any sort of customers. The question is even more common in an industry like the web hosting where the standard support contract is “unlimited support.”
My business has grown too fast and I need to stop accepting new customers while I work on acquiring more staff and servers. What is the best way to explain that to potential customers and still maintain a good reputation?
Congratulations on your growth! Your problem is one that many companies would like to have.
The best way to deal with this situation is to be honest. Stopping new orders while you work to ensure you’re able to keep up with growth is a respectable thing to do. Simply explain to customers that your company has been growing very quickly and you would like to have some time to hire and train new staff and expand your infrastructure.
Most importantly, communicate to potential customers that the stop on new orders is temporary and that you would be more than happy to add their name to a waiting list. Provide weekly updates to those potential customers and try to keep aware of an accurate timeline.
Then, when you’re all ready, let those potential customers know you’re all set. At that point, you should take a few moments to enjoy your growth and bask in your company’s success.
If you have already sent a warning or feel that a warning should not be given, then spend some time writing up a notice. The notice should explain what’s happening, the reason, specific examples (what they did, how you tried to fix it, etc.), and related information. Be sure that you have a copy of all of their data and can provide it to them. You should also offer to help move them to a new provider and give them at least 30 days before shutting down their account. Throughout the entire notice and during all subsequent interactions, be friendly and professional
The most important part is being professional. Don’t take the situation personally and remain helpful throughout the entire process. The customer will never think highly of you after being “fired,” but being friendly, professional, and helpful can certainly reduce the damage.
Whether to keep or get rid of the customer is a philosophical and company culture thing. My personal feelings (and the way I advise clients) is unless the customer is rude to employees, keep him or her and just deal with it. You can’t get rid of the customer for just having an unusually high number of questions. If the customer is rude to employees or violates the terms of service in anyway, then it is worth getting rid of him or her.
Actually getting rid of that customer is difficult. Use your discretion and think about whether a warning is justified. If so, write up a friendly, but firm warning and let the customer know about what he or she is doing wrong.
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