We all need to fire customers. You know the ones that you love to hate. The ones that cost you more than the revenue they bring in. The ones that prevent you from getting the customers you really want to have. The ones that who’s ethical behavior is not in line with yours.? Any of this sound familiar?
You need to fire a customer when:
We are no longer helping them.
The customer is disregarding our advice.
The customer is not willing or able to pay a price that we can live with to make a profit.
The customer has asked us to do something illegal or unethical.
The customer has behaved inappropriately toward us or one of our employees.
How to fire a customer:
If the customer has behaved unethically, or illegally, seek the advice legal or HR advice.
Revisit the economic value of the customer.
If you wish to keep the customer, it is time to have a face-to-face discussion with them to set new boundaries.
If the customer is not one that you would want to keep, create a plan to terminate.
The termination plan should include:
Do not permit any personal discussion about the former customers.
Identify a series of prospects that can replace the problem customer.
Begin to phase the “fired” customer out of your business when you get these additional clients
Show the problem clients other “options for their needs”
Set an internal date at which you will no longer be doing business with the problem customer.
Say it with me- Yes you can fire a customer. Have you ever fired a customer?
