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A while ago I had a big job done on my drive and parking area along with some walling. The job kept expanding and I accepted nearly all the quotes for additional work. They told me that the job was the biggest the company had ever done for a residential client. I paid fully and on time.
When they finished, I asked if they could give me a quick handdrawn diagram of where the utilities ran under the drive and they agreed. It’ s never been supplied. Two years later there was a bit of a problem with a small part of the job. They denied they had done the work involved.
I now hate this company and take every opportunity I can to bad mouth them. Living in a smallish town that matters. If it was more significant I would have sued them. Why? They didn’ t keep their word to me and then treated me as a mug.
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5. Avoid the unreasonable
Every so often you will come across customers who are truly unreasonable. Fortunately, it’ s not too common but it does happen from time to time. Incidentally, if you seem to come across customers like this frequently, you need to take a long hard look at yourself. Then consider the points in this article carefully because your experiences may suggest that some changes are needed. Virtually every customer will become unreasonable if they feel they are not being treated right.
What to do with the unreasonable customer? The answer is to run a mile. If you haven’ t yet started the job, make your excuses and drop out. If you have, try to resolve whatever dispute has arisen and get away as fast as possible. The time and emotional energy
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consumed by standing up for your rights, unless it threatens your business, is not worth it. The truly unreasonable customer will not only refuse to pay, they will also complain to trading standards. In the worst case they will sue you. It can be a world of pain.
If you work with too many unreasonable customers this can cause endless problems. It’ s all too easy to start feeling that everyone is against you. The danger then is that you can dismiss valid complaints. It’ s a dangerous path.
6. Respond professionally to complaints
We all make mistakes and sometimes that’ s likely to happen in your business. I always accept that people make mistakes and it doesn’ t upset me when it happens. What does upset me is if the person responsible doesn’ t pull out
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all the stops to fix the problem. I think that’ s how most customers feel.
‘ remedial work should be a priority
’ This means that when remedial work is required, it shouldn’ t be fitted in when there is a lull in workload. Rather it should be a priority. There is actually a big benefit to this. Research has shown that when customers who experience problems and have them fixed to their satisfaction, they become more loyal than customers whose job went smoothly. That’ s because they know from experience that you will stand behind your work. It engenders more trust than mere talk can ever produce.
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An easy life
I’ ve said some hard things in this article but my intention wasn’ t to offend. Some of us are naturally empathetic and will adopt many of the approaches suggested here instinctively. This article will mostly be for those that don’ t have this advantage.
A lack of empathy with customers can explain lots of difficulties in business life. My intention is that there might be some useful thoughts here to help smooth the path.
About the author Benjamin Dyer is CEO and co-founder of Powered Now. Powered Now’ s mobile app aims to take the pain out of paperwork for installers and other trade businesses.
www. powerednow. com
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