In today’s episode of The Sweaty Startup, Nick talks about having to fire a customer. Now what does that mean? He had a customer who was limiting his business and threatening his employees. Instead of bowing to their demands or yelling at them, he politely and confidently told them they could no longer use Storage Squad’s unit. It was quite the rollercoaster.
People will use all kinds of anger, harassment, abuse, you name it, to get things for free. Entitlement grows every year, and more and more people think they can demand special treatment or free things. Nick’s customer service rep reached out to him saying that one of their renters, who was behind on rent, had made a complaint that quickly turned into verbal harassment.
Nick decided to call the customer himself to relieve his rep and diffuse the situation. They complained that a request of theirs was unfulfilled, and though Nick checked and confirmed there was no request made, offered to fulfill it immediately. This wasn’t enough. The customer demanded free rent for 2 months, discounted rate, as well as dropping the previous few months of missed rent.
When Nick did not agree to this, they threatened to leave bad reviews on any platform reviews can be made, as well as get their lawyer involved for a lawsuit against the company. When they were done with their threats, Nick calmly gave them his attorney’s information to speak with if they wanted to pursue legal action, and informed them they had 30 days to remove their things from the storage unit.
You don’t deserve to have a customer that threatens you in any way. A customer like that is not worth your time, your efforts, or your energy. A person who acts that way and tries to get free stuff or threatens to leave bad reviews can take away from your productivity. They can take away your happiness, your attention, and your ability to help other customers as best that you can.
There’s never a reason to lose your cool or yell at a customer. But there comes a time when politely talking to them and letting them know you will not be providing services for them anymore is necessary.