Boomer Business Owners: Can You “Fire” a Customer?
June 24, 2008 by Jean Murray
The situation I talked about yesterday, with the travel agent who got mad because the doctor didn’t use her agency to book a trip, has another twist to it. The patient was 20 minutes late for her appointment. And she was typically at least 15 minutes late for every appointment. I told the doctor she should have been “fired.” (I realize health care providers have a little different situation, since they can be sued for abandonment if they just stop treating a patient.)
In your business, have you ever been tempted to get rid of a customer? Here are some of my suggestions:
1. Quit responding to requests for service or don’t provide information the customer requests. In other words, use bad customer service to make the person stop calling you. This is probably the worst of the possibilities. I don’t know if I could do this; it’s too ingrained in me to do what I promised and to provide excellent customer service.
2. Tell the person directly that you can’t do business with him/her or the company any more. If the person asks why, just say, “I don’t want to continue this business relationship.” And don’t give in to pressure to say more. You don’t owe anyone an explanation.
So what are your suggestions? How would you “fire” a customer?
Businesses providing services instead of products can fire a customer more easily and some do it all the time. For example, insurance companies charge very high premiums for bad risks. Credit card companies issue subprime cards also for bad risks.
True, Ren. A business that sells products can’t really refuse to sell the product, even if the customer is a pain. People know this, and some take advantage, bringing back products for refunds, or just generally making nuisances of themselves.