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Firing a Customer
Posted by jeremyryan on May 10, 2012 at 11:26 pmIv read numerous times the term fire a customer/client. What exactly are you telling this person?
geowitt replied 12 years, 5 months ago 7 Members · 9 Replies -
9 Replies
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I believe every customer is a valuable customer. That said, not every customer/repair shop relationship will work out. If you try to provide customers a fair level of service and are pushed beyond a reasonable and healthy relationship, then firing a customer is sometimes the best way to go.
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One of the reasons I’m no longer allowed on the front desk…
My overwhelming desire at times to tell a clueless human “Please leave &
don’t come back… By the way, please tell all your friends because they
must all be a$$holes too”.
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We have had to fire a customer. Every time the man would come in he
would be a grump. If he had a complaint we would bend over backwards
to try and make him happy, whether it was a legitimate complaint or
not, and it happened every time he was here, no matter what services
we performed. I finally decided that he was the type of person you
would never be able to please and he was hoping to get all his
services for free. The last time he was in I apologized again for
something he was unhappy about and told him that since he did not seem
to be happy with our services that maybe it was time for him to find
somewhere else to go. He was totally shocked and stuttered and
stammered about being happy with our services but he left and we have
not seen him again since. I don’t miss him at all, I hope he is
making one of our competitors very happy.
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The reason for being in business is to be able to make enough money
to pay your employees, pay the overhead and make something for
yourself. If a customer is so difficult that is cost you money to
meet his or her requirements or maybe you just don’t have the
expertise to service the vehicle it is time to “fire the customer”.
One way to do that is to just raise the price so high that they go
elsewhere. Or you might just tell them you won’t do their work
anymore. It is a free country and you have just as much right to
refuse there business as they have to go to another repair shop. If
you have the right computer system in place, you can tell which jobs
are profitable and which are losers. Take in the profitable jobs and
pass on the ones you lose on. You will stay in business if you know
what you do best.
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We use our remarks section and keep comments about many customers.If we
see they are not quality customers we make it hard for them to make a appointment or say i am sorry but we are backed up for a week. That usually works without to much hassle.
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Not everyone who comes into a business is a customer. There are some people out there who get out of bed with the deliberate intent to defraud a business.
It’s the old “waiter, there’s a fly in my soup” syndrome.
A person who is always finding fault with the service and seeking some sort of monetary adjustment is someone whose business you can’t afford to have.
Now, some people complain about everything and I’m not necessarily talking about them. Some people complain because it’s what they’ve always done and as long as they don’t seek monetary compensation or bother the help, so what? You can complain and still be nice about it.
It’s time to draw the line when they think that paying money entitles them to abuse the employees or get something extra for nothing.
I have 3 rules for doing business with me. First, you have to have a vehicle…. Next, you have to be willing and able to pay for repairs or maintenance on it. Finally, you have to be nice. That’s a short list, but it’s important.
None of our workers will ever be rude to a customer and I won’t tolerate customers being consistently rude to to the workers. We all have bad days and we all have misunderstandings.
I do draw the line and, once it’s crossed, you’ll never be allowed back.
I am the only one allowed to do this, but I’ll tell the offender that I’m not able to make them happy and it’s time to stop trying. I’m not the shop they’re looking for, they’re going to have to try another one. Now, bear in mind that this is about one in a thousand people, so it’s rare. But we do flag them and they will never again get their car serviced here. I just tell them that I’m not able to make them happy. It’s all my fault….
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