You know how the saying goes…

You can’t please all of the people all of the time…

Sometimes, even with all the best intentions in the world, you are going to let someone down and make a mistake.

Most of the time, people are understanding; we are all human after all. Often it’s not the mistake that’s the problem it’s how you put things right. If you react quickly and correct errors with minimum fuss then most people are ok.

Occasionally it might not even be an error on your part that is the problem, it could be the customer making unreasonable demands on you.

By unreasonable, I mean “not guided by or based on good sense” or “beyond the limits of acceptability or fairness”.

When you have unreasonable customers you need to be careful how you proceed so here are five tips that might help:

  • Qualify customers

    If you can, then spend some time qualifying your customers. A client recently told me that they only work with “nice” people. That’s a great thing if you can do it, unreasonable people will cause you no end of problems. Nice people will understand. If you are going to be working with these people for years then time spent here will pay dividends.

  • Understand their position

    Customers can often have a reason for their unreasonableness and it can just be a matter of point of view. Unless they are just messing with you, then you may be able to empathise and at least try and understand their position.

  • Give them no-where to go

    If you agree a piece work with a customer then make sure everything is in writing and make sure you have a signed order form. If there are variations agreed then get something signed. Sometimes even if you have all this in place people can still act unreasonable. However, having agreements in writing will go a long way in your favour if things go south.

  • Stand your ground

    Some people will try and push you to test your mettle. You need to know when you need to push back. Sometimes, even if you are right, you need to walk away and cut your losses as it’s not worth arguing but sometimes you need to stand your ground. If you can back up your arguments then you should.

  • Consider a deal

    If you reach an impasse and can’t agree, then consider a deal – try to make it a win-win situation for all. Give some ground in a bid to move forward. Make it clear this is a one time thing. At some point though you might feel that you are the only one giving and may have to take the hit or walk away.

Running a business is difficult at the best of times, so working with unreasonable customers is best avoided – with a little planning you can reduce the number you deal with. 

You probably won’t be able to eliminate your interaction with them completely but you may be able to reduce the impact they have on your business.