Nightmare on start-up street: Dealing with customers from hell – Page 2 of 2 – StartupSmart

Savvy customers keep businesses alert

Another business that has experience dealing with nightmare customers is marketing consultancy In Marketing We Trust. Frederic Chanut, managing director, says the most common areas of dispute are delivery and quality of service. What he calls the ‘it’s not quite what we wanted’ customer.

 

“Out-of-scope requests, mismatched expectations and unrealistic timeframes are other common areas of conflict,” he says.

 

Chanut says customers are not becoming more demanding, but they are becoming savvier. He says this is generally a good thing for any service business.

 

“It leads you to constantly improve on quality and delivery. A demanding but fair client can bring you more business as it forces you to excel in what you do. A client who never complains and is always happy can bring out the worst in the business as you become sloppy and complacent with your results.”

 

According to Chanut, to reduce the risk of customer complaints it’s an idea to ask for client feedback as often as possible. Having them prioritise tasks in order of importance is another good way of reducing conflict.

 

His advice is to get in touch with clients on a weekly basis. “Even a quick phone call will save you a lot of time, rather than having to fix problems down the track.”

 

Turn your customers into advocates

 

Chanut spends as much time as possible servicing clients to prevent customer service issues and to encourage clients to become raving fans of his business.

 

“This is critical for any start-up. The initial tribe of clients that wants to use your products or services will become your biggest marketing machine as they will become your advocates,” he explains.

 

But, he says, if the situation is unsalvageable, you may have to let the client go.

 

“We had to let go of a client and I wish I had done it sooner. We looked at our overall cost – staff hours, tools, products, my own time – and realised we were making a substantial loss on their account every month.”

 

“Only one out of every four invoices ended up being paid – six months overdue – and that was only thanks to internal allies within the company.”

 

This situation had a serious impact on the business. Chanut had to cancel a project and let go of a staff: “Emotionally, I couldn’t hire someone for a while even though I needed to.”

 

If he were faced with this situation again, Chanut says he would have followed up invoices more promptly and been stricter about enforcing his terms of trade.

 

Deal with client criticisms before it’s too late

 

As for responding to clients publicly bad-mouthing your business, Chanut says he tends “not to respond to trolls online and I think the same goes offline. The more you get involved, the more the conversation will be heard.”

 

“If a client leaves bad comments online, the best method is to engage in online reputation management before discussing the matter directly with them and trying to resolve it either directly or through a lawyer. From experience, a mean letter from your lawyer can do wonders,” he says.

 

Ultimately, says Chanut, good comments will bury bad ones and trolls can often transform happy customers into advocates.

 

“This is particularly important if your business operates in a small community where the disgruntled client is heavily involved.”