FIRING CUSTOMERS

Have you ever had to fire a customer?  If you’re just starting out in the pressure washing business, FIRING CUSTOMERS might sound like bad advice at first.  It is somewhat of an oxymoron like jumbo shrimp, small crowd, walking dead or act naturally.  There is no doubt that most customers are good customers and a few are just average.  But there are those rare cases the best thing you can do to grow your business is “man up” and fire a customer!  So why fire a customer?  I’m glad you asked!  I’m going to give you six reasons for firing customers in the video and summarize three of them here.

HIGH DEMANDS

Some customers simply expect too much.  They demand service before we’re able to get there because previous jobs are already on the schedule.  They may have unrealistic expectations about how clean you can get it.  Some customers want everything for nothing.  When a customer is overly emotional about pricing from the very start, it’s a good sign you’ll have more issues if you take on their business.

SLOW TO MAKE PAYMENT

Some customers drag their feet when it comes time to pay.  This disruption in cash flow hurts your business.  In some cases, it’s intentional and they hope you’ll forget and leave them alone.  We do think it’s important for businesses to keep current with the latest payment method trends.

THEY TALK MORE THAN THEY LISTEN

Remember that you are the professional in the exterior cleaning industry.  It never ceases to amaze me when a customer wants to argue with their three hours worth of internet research against my 30 years of experience.  There will always be those customers who simply won’t listen to you.  They think they know better and try to give you and education in your field of expertise.  The worst part is when you did it the way requested, but you knew it would not work, and it didn’t!  In the book Lifestorming, they recommend firing the bottom 10-15% of your customer base every two years!  Consider the metaphor of pruning plants.  Sometimes the best thing you can do is clear out the dead wood to make room for more growth!

Enjoy this great brief article about firing customers!     Also, check out some our recent graduates from my online pressure washing school!