Telling a customer you will no longer provide them with a service

neris

Just looking to see if anyone has ever had to do this before and if so how did you handle it? Basis of the issue are

On friday evening one of my managers was in their office having a meeting with another staff member and had a sign up to indiacte there was a meeting in progress. There was a bang on the door and a few seconds later another loud bang then the door flew open and a customer was at the door. The manager said they were in a meeting and if the customer would wait theyd meet them in a few minutes. The customer went straight on the offensive by saying loudily and angrily they wanted to talk to the manager and wanted to talk to them now. They shoved a copy of an invoice into the managers face and started poking the office desk and invoce.

The customer then went on a tirade about an invoice theyd been given and started to personally abuse the manager and the management skills and communication with staff (of which theres no problem).

The manager was rightly very upset at these remarks and tirade against them. We had previous issues with this customer in the past over what they were paying and what we charged. They are the kind of customer who are never happy unless they are getting a free service. It has now gotten to the point where its been decided that we longer want this person custom. I know it might sound odd now a days to say you dont want a customer but this person has caused a lot of waste of time over prices, changing the service they are getting and now personal abuse of staff. Would like to hear how you guys would handle it or have had to deal with a similar issue before

srsly78

This is why there are termination clauses in contracts. Invoke them.

mneylon

Terminate the contract

You can't be obliged to continue doing business with a person or company and if they are that kind of customer you're probably better off without them

dbran

Hi

The best way to get rid of a client is........double or tripple the fee

Dear Customer.

We have reviewed the costs involved in providing the service to you in terms of outlay and the charge out rate of the relevant staff involved and we expect to charge you €x'000 in the next 12 months.

If you have any queries yada yada yada.

Hope this helps.

dbran

neris

cheers for the replies. Just wrote to them telling them behaviour was unacceptable and staff dont deserve abuse and we are terminating our services from the month end. wonder what reprecussions await later in the week

chillywilly

Keep us posted! And possibly have the Gardai on speed dial

Bandara

Bit late but I personally would have waited until I got paid whatever I was owed and then terminated.

I don't think I'd have been as polite either !

blue4ever

OP that mas my first thought - get the shillings first then, without to much eloquence, tell him to sling his hook.

listermint

Sometimes its better to take the hit and cut the ties tbh, weve had to do this in the past with one particularly looney client. Contract was cut, we paid him the remainder of the contract which he had signed up to and let him on his way.

Its not worth the resources and can be easier to take a small financial hit than continue with people whom have no concept of self discipline or business.

Best practice is to weed these type of contracts out before they are signed. Thats up to finance and sales teams to manage.

JD Dublin

Agree with listermint - your better off without.

However these jokers usually take as much credit as they can get, if your business gives credit. It's part of their strategy in putting on the pressure, as far as I can see.

Anyway back on topic. Get rid of them, they will be your competitors problem next month.

buck65

Funny thing is when they go elsewhere they'll behave as you have probably been too good to them for far too long.

Have a similar problem with a customer myself at the moment. Everything I sell to his is queried to the point that I make no money on him, it is all take take with him, credit notes etc. etc.
Waste of time.

68Murph68

dbran wrote: »

Hi

The best way to get rid of a client is........double or tripple the fee

Dear Customer.

We have reviewed the costs involved in providing the service to you in terms of outlay and the charge out rate of the relevant staff involved and we expect to charge you €x'000 in the next 12 months.

If you have any queries yada yada yada.

Hope this helps.

dbran

This doesn't work in 100% of cases. A friend of mine told me that their company completely jacked up the price on a service contract when it came to renewal to get rid of a customer. They were making money on the contract already but the customer simply was so much of a moron (ignoring advice/not following procedure) that the MD decided they just didn't want anything to do with individual. Heads were put together and they came up with a clear-cut feck off quote (or so they thought) - think it was three times the previous year's fee for the same level of annual service. Customer agreed the jacked up price straight away and they were stuck with providing service for another year. :P

MD offered staff a bonus for dealing with the client and were told they were lowest priority and to do the bare minimum. Coming up to renewal time the next year the client were told that the company was focusing on different area and they wouldnt be quoting a fee for renewal of contract (even though it was blatantly obvious this was B.S.)

Far safer to say something like concentrating on other areas of the business/focusing on different elements of the market and cant provide them with a service any longer.

If you provide clear examples of blatantly unacceptable behaviour -e.g. rude to staff/physically threatening etc you are probably on safer ground but in either case don't be surprised if ex clients like this go around bad-mouthing your company.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

Whats with all this making excuses and jacking up the price to try to protect the persons feelings?

This seems quite clear cut to me. Sometimes in business you have to make (tough?) decisions and fire people, staff or customers its never pleasant but just get on with it. Check the legal issues and then make the call.

Dear XXX,

We have reviewed your account with our firm and following our discussion dated XXX, we understand that we have not been able to meet the expectations you had of us; as such have decided to terminate your account with our company.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may caused and wish you all the best in the future.

68Murph68

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan wrote: »

Whats with all this making excuses and jacking up the price to try to protect the persons feelings?

This seems quite clear cut to me. Sometimes in business you have to make (tough?) decisions and fire people, staff or customers its never pleasant but just get on with it. Check the legal issues and then make the call.

Dear XXX,

We have reviewed your account with our firm and following our discussion dated XXX, we understand that we have not been able to meet the expectations you had of us; as such have decided to terminate your account with our company.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may caused and wish you all the best in the future.

In certain sectors/industries word-of-mouth and reputation could be key factors.

Ireland tends to be a smallish place and it wouldnt be unheard of for a dumped client to go around bad-mouthing a business.

Its not to protect a client's feelings, its about stopping them from bad mouthing the business because they've got the hump.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

You could say the same thing about letting go a staff member though.

nice1franko

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan wrote: »

Whats with all this making excuses and jacking up the price to try to protect the persons feelings?

This seems quite clear cut to me. Sometimes in business you have to make (tough?) decisions and fire people, staff or customers its never pleasant but just get on with it. Check the legal issues and then make the call.

Dear XXX,

We have reviewed your account with our firm and following our discussion dated XXX, we understand that we have not been able to meet the expectations you had of us; as such have decided to terminate your account with our company.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may caused and wish you all the best in the future.

This is more than fair. You're not a whipping boy. The customer is not always right. You have to ensure you and your staff's precious time, energy and patience is not wasted on the sweet desert air.

I'm no particular fan of the Gordon Ramsey persona (but I appreciate he's a supreme chef) and I know he was he was heavy-handed here, but I think this shows quick decisiveness and good judgment in the long-term: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKRNRz6VK_k. Some people are out to take advantage and they can come in the guise of customers.

dbran

Hi

I would also add that it is their own responsibility to find another service provider. Also if the services is an ongoing services such as accountancy, legal etc to state exactly what the position is with them, any deadlines that they need to look out for etc.

No matter what they have done you cannot just leave them in the lurch. If you do you may find yourself in trouble especially if you have a professional body that they can report you to. That is why I prefer the doubling of fees route rather then the PFO letter. It means that they leave by their own accord and I believe there is less chance of any comeback on you for anything that has been done in the past whether rightly or wrongly.

Also review the procedures you have for taking on new clients so that you dont end up taking on similar nut jobs in the future.

Best Regards

dbran