Most customers and clients are fair, understanding and generally compassionate people. But, occasionally, they can get a little ahead of themselves and start disrespecting your business.
As a company, it can be hard to know how to react to this. We live in a culture that says that the customer is always right. So when they start doing things that aren’t right, you don’t always know what to do next.
Ideally, you want to avoid any direct confrontation that could make the situation even worse. But you also need to stand up for yourself and make sure that you continue getting paid.
In this post, we take a look at some of the things that you can do if your customers start disrespecting you. The following is real leadership advice.
Become A Decision-Maker
If you want the best possible outcomes for your business, you’ll need to become its decision-maker or advocate. Ultimately, as a leader, you’re the person who needs to stand up for the best interests of everyone in the organisation. If you don’t, then other people won’t follow your lead.
Becoming a decision-maker is ultimately about recognizing which customer relationships are good, and which aren’t. When the balance shifts towards the negative, it’s up to you to end the relationship entirely and potentially ask them to go elsewhere, especially if serving them is getting in the way of meeting other clients’ needs.
Don’t Beg
As a business, you should never beg for money. Begging gives people the impression that they have a choice of paying you or not.
Instead, insist on a price and once you lock people into a contract, make sure that they pay you every dime they legally owe you. If you’re not sure how to get money professionally, use an invoice template. This way, you can present your payment requests in a professional, procedural way, while also making it easy to collect money.
Be Clear
Don’t allow ambiguity to creep into your customer relationships. Always make it absolutely clear what you expect from both parties. If you don’t then your customers could take you for a ride, using a lack of clarity in your original agreement as a defense.
Get Commitments
If you’re dealing with a client, make sure that you get them to commit and hold up to their end of the deal. For instance, if you run a building company, get your customer to agree to the design of the property before construction gets underway. Be clear that if they change their design requirements part way through, they will necessarily incur additional costs.
Don’t Mislead Them
Customers will sometimes naturally disrespect you if you mislead them. They’ll see you as a phony and treat you as such.
Thus, you should always be clear about the realities of your services upfront. Don’t promise the world when all you can deliver is peanuts.
Be careful not to dupe customers into anything either. Don’t promise them a free webinar when all you’re doing is pitching your products and services. They won’t appreciate that.