Don't Be This Guy....
- Thread starter jstover77
- Start date
Meh, I hate listening to people try to figure out their ideas too, but at least we have customers, right?
Check out this site-- so funny: http://www.clientsfromhell.net
Check out this site-- so funny: http://www.clientsfromhell.net
- Mar 10, 2010
- 42,697
- 107,138
Not at all... the customer is always the customer. Often it makes good sense to tell the customer they are not right and to steer them in the right direction.
It is one way to give the customer your best efforts.
If I am buying something, I'd rather take the advice of the professional no matter what I thought was right if he/she knew something (s) that I didn;t know.
fvcktheworld
Regular Member
- Jun 26, 2010
- 463
- 478
This is a good post and makes total sense to me. I even like the original post. It may come off as a little harsh but that is business.
Have you ever been around a really successful person in real life? You can not ever have a conversation with them. I don't think it is their fault I think it is the way their mind is programmed.
It was said that "If you believe you can achieve." and I think that is what they are doing. Thinking about money and how important it is.
I am actually one of these people per say. I am successful and if you are going to try and talk to me about something that is unimportant, I am not going to fake it and continue the conversation.
Also, the people with no money that want services, you need to step back and ask yourself what if someone was asking me to do this for free, or want me to do it and then pay me later? You would say "NO". If you said yes, you are not a good business man and need to re-evaluate your position and what you are trying to do for a living.
I don't remember what was said about thinking more about the the money then the customer being happy, but yes that is kind of how it goes. Stores will not even put a product out if they don't think they are going to make money. What store has ever thought, "oh this product will make people happy" before they thought "oh this product will make us money"? None that I know of and honestly if there was one it is probably out of business.
Lastly, the customer is not always right. That is the dumbest saying in the world. You have to stand up for your product/service. You have to know more about it then the customer does, which in most cases offering a services is not difficult. That makes you always right, how you go about letting the customer know they are wrong is the important part.
Anyways, thanks given for the original op. I enjoy a good rant and this is one of the best and most honest ones I have read in a while.
Have you ever been around a really successful person in real life? You can not ever have a conversation with them. I don't think it is their fault I think it is the way their mind is programmed.
It was said that "If you believe you can achieve." and I think that is what they are doing. Thinking about money and how important it is.
I am actually one of these people per say. I am successful and if you are going to try and talk to me about something that is unimportant, I am not going to fake it and continue the conversation.
Also, the people with no money that want services, you need to step back and ask yourself what if someone was asking me to do this for free, or want me to do it and then pay me later? You would say "NO". If you said yes, you are not a good business man and need to re-evaluate your position and what you are trying to do for a living.
I don't remember what was said about thinking more about the the money then the customer being happy, but yes that is kind of how it goes. Stores will not even put a product out if they don't think they are going to make money. What store has ever thought, "oh this product will make people happy" before they thought "oh this product will make us money"? None that I know of and honestly if there was one it is probably out of business.
Lastly, the customer is not always right. That is the dumbest saying in the world. You have to stand up for your product/service. You have to know more about it then the customer does, which in most cases offering a services is not difficult. That makes you always right, how you go about letting the customer know they are wrong is the important part.
Anyways, thanks given for the original op. I enjoy a good rant and this is one of the best and most honest ones I have read in a while.
This is something that happens to me ALL the time, but not nessissarely in this context. People will agree to something, and then just stand you up and NOT respond. Why do so many people do this? I never got that and i never will
jodys
BANNED
- Feb 10, 2010
- 174
- 134
Unfortunately the people that need to read this thread won't OR they'll think the post is about someone else.
I've been in the service business 21 years as a B&M store owner and have revenue streams on every hand. In business you never focus on the bad customers. Do your best to listen and if reasonable then fix the problem. If unreasonable then apologize and steer them somewhere else. I send them to my worst competitor. Tell them what a great guy he is and how we're all friends. I bury him in asshole customers that I either don't have the time to deal with or won't make the time to deal with. No customer in my store would know I'm the owner. I rarely talk to a customer and put people up front between me and them. When people ask where I work I just say I'm self employed. I'm not one of those business owners shoving business cards in everyone's nose or bragging about my business. I'm just an employee and don't like to even say where.
I'm not a patient person and don't want to make small talk. I'd recommend getting someone between the OP and his customers. You might salvage more of them and not get so worked up if you don't deal directly with them. Get a gatekeeper and keep that gate closed. You'll be surprised how much you can get done with someone running interference for you. My wife is very good at this. Nobody calls me and nobody talks to me unless I want to talk to them. She tells sales solicitors and customers to email and if I'm interested I'll respond. We have an email account set up just for that type of correspondence. She tells them if you don't get a response then he's not interested. I can scan emails faster than try to get off phone calls by people just wasting my time. Don't let people waste your time - bottom line.
Lastly, I live in farm country. We grow crops and know how important it is to keep the weeds out of the field. They come in all the time and will never stop coming. You need to learn to pluck those weeds - don't give it a second thought and get back to fertilizing your crops. Weeds will kill your crop if you don't pluck them when they first appear. It only takes a second if you pluck them early. If you let them grow then it's a bit more work to get rid of them. Weeds are bad customers. Crops are your business. Get a gatekeeper that can pluck weeds. You're venting what every long term business owner goes through but the faster you get a gatekeeper that can pluck weeds the faster you can grow your business.
Also consider chargebacks and disputes as part of the business. You will dimenish those as you get better at plucking weeds. We do 100 orders plus a day online. If we get a customer banging us in hours for a tracking number his order is canceled. We sell herbal incense online also. Last week some druggie was ringing our phone off the hook on Monday morning wanting his tracking number for the order he placed on Saturday. GONE - voided the authorization and blocked his emails voicing his tantrum. Look at every chargeback or dispute and recall the entire transaction. I bet you'll quickly see the pattern of bad customers. They almost always show signs of problems before shit hits the fan. Learn their pattern and pluck them quick. Did they demand a ton of attention before the purchase? Did they demand to know the refund policy BEFORE buying? Did they want references, alternate phone numbers, blah blah blah? Those are weeds. Toss them and get back to finding better clientele or growing your crops.
You sound like someone that has a lot of pride. That is an admirable trait for any good business person. However it conflicts with customers. If you want to set me off quick just ask me to prove my credibility after I've done work for you. I'm ready to throw on the gloves and get in the ring when that happens. My wife knows this and throws anyone out the door before she allows me to hear someone question my integrity after I've done the work. Question before and I don't have a problem - there's the door and find your way out just like you found your way in. But hire me to do the work and then after I finish you question my integrity? It only happens once with any customer in our area. We have a list of people that won't be in my store more than a minute before someone recognizes them and throws them out. I don't have a problem with people questioning integrity or doing research but do it BEFORE you hire someone OR at least before he does the work. Professionals that take a lot of pride in their work won't tolerate such nonsense from anyone.
Best of luck John. I feel your pain but there's easier ways to get those weeds out of the field. Get someone to run interference and pluck the weeds quick.
I model my time like the Attorneys I hire. You don't waste a second of their time when even a cheap paper-pusher costs $150 an hour. When the IRS came calling I was forced to hire a $450 an hour Attorney. You quickly learn how much a seasoned professional's time is worth when he's billing $450 an hour. My time is worth at least that much so I talk to very few not willing to pay. Your time is valuable - don't let anyone steal it. Best regards.
I've been in the service business 21 years as a B&M store owner and have revenue streams on every hand. In business you never focus on the bad customers. Do your best to listen and if reasonable then fix the problem. If unreasonable then apologize and steer them somewhere else. I send them to my worst competitor. Tell them what a great guy he is and how we're all friends. I bury him in asshole customers that I either don't have the time to deal with or won't make the time to deal with. No customer in my store would know I'm the owner. I rarely talk to a customer and put people up front between me and them. When people ask where I work I just say I'm self employed. I'm not one of those business owners shoving business cards in everyone's nose or bragging about my business. I'm just an employee and don't like to even say where.
I'm not a patient person and don't want to make small talk. I'd recommend getting someone between the OP and his customers. You might salvage more of them and not get so worked up if you don't deal directly with them. Get a gatekeeper and keep that gate closed. You'll be surprised how much you can get done with someone running interference for you. My wife is very good at this. Nobody calls me and nobody talks to me unless I want to talk to them. She tells sales solicitors and customers to email and if I'm interested I'll respond. We have an email account set up just for that type of correspondence. She tells them if you don't get a response then he's not interested. I can scan emails faster than try to get off phone calls by people just wasting my time. Don't let people waste your time - bottom line.
Lastly, I live in farm country. We grow crops and know how important it is to keep the weeds out of the field. They come in all the time and will never stop coming. You need to learn to pluck those weeds - don't give it a second thought and get back to fertilizing your crops. Weeds will kill your crop if you don't pluck them when they first appear. It only takes a second if you pluck them early. If you let them grow then it's a bit more work to get rid of them. Weeds are bad customers. Crops are your business. Get a gatekeeper that can pluck weeds. You're venting what every long term business owner goes through but the faster you get a gatekeeper that can pluck weeds the faster you can grow your business.
Also consider chargebacks and disputes as part of the business. You will dimenish those as you get better at plucking weeds. We do 100 orders plus a day online. If we get a customer banging us in hours for a tracking number his order is canceled. We sell herbal incense online also. Last week some druggie was ringing our phone off the hook on Monday morning wanting his tracking number for the order he placed on Saturday. GONE - voided the authorization and blocked his emails voicing his tantrum. Look at every chargeback or dispute and recall the entire transaction. I bet you'll quickly see the pattern of bad customers. They almost always show signs of problems before shit hits the fan. Learn their pattern and pluck them quick. Did they demand a ton of attention before the purchase? Did they demand to know the refund policy BEFORE buying? Did they want references, alternate phone numbers, blah blah blah? Those are weeds. Toss them and get back to finding better clientele or growing your crops.
You sound like someone that has a lot of pride. That is an admirable trait for any good business person. However it conflicts with customers. If you want to set me off quick just ask me to prove my credibility after I've done work for you. I'm ready to throw on the gloves and get in the ring when that happens. My wife knows this and throws anyone out the door before she allows me to hear someone question my integrity after I've done the work. Question before and I don't have a problem - there's the door and find your way out just like you found your way in. But hire me to do the work and then after I finish you question my integrity? It only happens once with any customer in our area. We have a list of people that won't be in my store more than a minute before someone recognizes them and throws them out. I don't have a problem with people questioning integrity or doing research but do it BEFORE you hire someone OR at least before he does the work. Professionals that take a lot of pride in their work won't tolerate such nonsense from anyone.
Best of luck John. I feel your pain but there's easier ways to get those weeds out of the field. Get someone to run interference and pluck the weeds quick.
I model my time like the Attorneys I hire. You don't waste a second of their time when even a cheap paper-pusher costs $150 an hour. When the IRS came calling I was forced to hire a $450 an hour Attorney. You quickly learn how much a seasoned professional's time is worth when he's billing $450 an hour. My time is worth at least that much so I talk to very few not willing to pay. Your time is valuable - don't let anyone steal it. Best regards.
Last edited:
- Feb 27, 2009
- 3,219
- 4,935
Thanks for the great words of advices. The funny thing is, I was really only talking about the 2 out of 100 customers. The 2%. Believe it or not most of the people that I deal with are super cool.
Also the post was supposed to be more of a joke, but then suddenly turned serious when people started getting offended, therefor I turned it into more of discussion about bad clients.
Believe it or not the worst customers we have are with our web design company. It just seems that in the web design business there is a higher percentage of bad customers. This list was actually one that my designer and I put together, from real customers we have over the last year or so.
And as for the chargeback thing, I totally understand that it is part of business. I actually haven't had one in a very long time, but I see it happening to a lot of associates and it just pisses me off to no end.
Thanks again. Love the weed analogy.
bigg_capp
Regular Member
- Aug 24, 2010
- 486
- 456
Jstover77,
Just be careful what you write and how you write it. It appears that you are a super solid businessman, and a contributing member to this forum. You don't want to hurt your credibitliy by posting an emotional rant on the internet. That would just suck.
Hopefully you thanked Basstrackerboats for standing up for you. He's a solid guy, with solid posts and his testimonial goes a long way. Just from that, I would do business with you.
Good Luck,
Remember - ooooo-saaaa. Take a deep breath buddy!!
-Capp
Just be careful what you write and how you write it. It appears that you are a super solid businessman, and a contributing member to this forum. You don't want to hurt your credibitliy by posting an emotional rant on the internet. That would just suck.
Hopefully you thanked Basstrackerboats for standing up for you. He's a solid guy, with solid posts and his testimonial goes a long way. Just from that, I would do business with you.
Good Luck,
Remember - ooooo-saaaa. Take a deep breath buddy!!
-Capp
thisismymp3
Power Member
- Jan 6, 2010
- 774
- 298
nah thats not harsh, its the truth,m maybe roll out the red carpet for 2 minutes for that $125
Sanitarium
Regular Member
- Sep 27, 2008
- 312
- 654
Especially when it's usually paying any mind to 1 person (bad customer) out of so many that can cause this.
But i still want to send a hearty middle finger to that guy in his undies eating chips, has no intention of doing business with me but just bugs me because it goes well with pleasing him along with scratching his balls. "i'll pay you double" no, you won't...
xplicit
BANNED
- Jul 21, 2008
- 1,113
- 1,062
I really hate the ones that expect you to do a full blown out design, and then say.. Well your price is to steep, Specially when you were within their budget.
Seriously, Just got cantact by a member here wanting 5 WP sites and has a budget of $50 per site.. So I said, sure I will do installs and the works for $250 (5 total).. And they say.." I wasnt expecting to pay that much"
THEN DONT PUT IT AS YOUR BUDGET.... WTF
Seriously, Just got cantact by a member here wanting 5 WP sites and has a budget of $50 per site.. So I said, sure I will do installs and the works for $250 (5 total).. And they say.." I wasnt expecting to pay that much"
THEN DONT PUT IT AS YOUR BUDGET.... WTF
- May 17, 2010
- 799
- 577
Here is my biggest
Please dont ****ing ask me to help you with some shit that isnt included in my services, you get what you pay for, if you need help with other stuff I bill at $75 an hour even if it is just installing wordpress you worthless morons go out and google some shit and educate yourself instead of expecting the world to guide you along like a useless little bitch
I also really hate when I'm doing web design work and ****ing morons want to get their moms sisters cousin who designed a disrama in 5th grade involved in the project. Or the ****ing morons who think they have great ideas and insist I implement them. I am the ****ing profession you idiots let me do my job its what your paying me for, I am not a ****ing mindless robot that you tell instructions to and you get output from.
Please dont ****ing ask me to help you with some shit that isnt included in my services, you get what you pay for, if you need help with other stuff I bill at $75 an hour even if it is just installing wordpress you worthless morons go out and google some shit and educate yourself instead of expecting the world to guide you along like a useless little bitch
I also really hate when I'm doing web design work and ****ing morons want to get their moms sisters cousin who designed a disrama in 5th grade involved in the project. Or the ****ing morons who think they have great ideas and insist I implement them. I am the ****ing profession you idiots let me do my job its what your paying me for, I am not a ****ing mindless robot that you tell instructions to and you get output from.
