Unhappy customers?
- Thread starter MARK W.
- Start date
Grant
Administrator
The best thing to do is ask them what they would like you to do. Human nature will take over and they will ask for something less than they really want.
IE. They might answer you with I want you to touch up these areas or give me a discount, they typically wont respond with I want a freebee, but this way they throw out the first offer and you can counter with what you consider fair.
IE. They might answer you with I want you to touch up these areas or give me a discount, they typically wont respond with I want a freebee, but this way they throw out the first offer and you can counter with what you consider fair.
indiana jones
Member
Mark,
Put yourself in their shoes - what would you do? There is an old sales axiom, that 1 happy customer will tell 1 person about the good service. 1 UNhappy person will tell EVERYONE. It's human nature, they didn't screw up and don't want to be blamed by friends and family.
A good way to deal in the future is to set realistic expectations on what you can accomplish so the customer understands. Also, put everything in writing with their signature on your copy stating everything you plan to do. Give them a copy, too.
Good luck
Put yourself in their shoes - what would you do? There is an old sales axiom, that 1 happy customer will tell 1 person about the good service. 1 UNhappy person will tell EVERYONE. It's human nature, they didn't screw up and don't want to be blamed by friends and family.
A good way to deal in the future is to set realistic expectations on what you can accomplish so the customer understands. Also, put everything in writing with their signature on your copy stating everything you plan to do. Give them a copy, too.
Good luck
Vrollingthunder
Member
Unhappy Customer
Most of the time I can spot them when they call to book a job that they will be a pain. They are usually the fast smooth talkers that ask a hundred questions. They usually let on that they let other guys go for one reason or another. Some will find fault no matter how hard you try. If you have to deduct something do it but don't book them again.
Most of the time I can spot them when they call to book a job that they will be a pain. They are usually the fast smooth talkers that ask a hundred questions. They usually let on that they let other guys go for one reason or another. Some will find fault no matter how hard you try. If you have to deduct something do it but don't book them again.
Mark W,
I guess the most important thing is to ask yourself is did you meet your contractual obligations? Did you do as good as you said you would?
If the answer is yes break out the before and after pics and point of the differances. A picture is worth a thousand words and should help you prove your point . If you can answer yes to the first two questions I would hold my ground and request full payment for services rendered.
I guess the most important thing is to ask yourself is did you meet your contractual obligations? Did you do as good as you said you would?
If the answer is yes break out the before and after pics and point of the differances. A picture is worth a thousand words and should help you prove your point . If you can answer yes to the first two questions I would hold my ground and request full payment for services rendered.
Mike Hughes
Former Board Administrator
Mark,
The longer you do this, the better you will get at establishing realisitic expectations. I can look at a job and know just about exactly what I can and can't do. I convey that to the customer.................sometimes that involves turning the job down.
In this situation, after the fact, I would absolutely directly ask them what it is that would make them happy. A little money off? Re do? Sometimes re-doing the job wouldnt help a bit, and its just a matter of coming to terms with the fact that this is as good as it gets.
If you need to give them a little attitude, you can use my favorite line..........."I'm a pressure washer, not a magician."
Good luck, let us know the outcome.
The longer you do this, the better you will get at establishing realisitic expectations. I can look at a job and know just about exactly what I can and can't do. I convey that to the customer.................sometimes that involves turning the job down.
In this situation, after the fact, I would absolutely directly ask them what it is that would make them happy. A little money off? Re do? Sometimes re-doing the job wouldnt help a bit, and its just a matter of coming to terms with the fact that this is as good as it gets.
If you need to give them a little attitude, you can use my favorite line..........."I'm a pressure washer, not a magician."
Good luck, let us know the outcome.
Jon
Member Specialist
Mark all the above replies are good ones, remember there is always one who cannot be made happy no matter what, could be this is one of those.
Now here is something I do on every job, it is a mind set thing with me.
I look at every job as if it is "my own business" and I know I want it clean.
Like most of us I an pretty much tell going in what I will charge, what I can and cannot do and how it will look once finished.
I always check my work, partly because I have help and help never does the job as good as the boss and partly because I want to be sure of no call backs.
I have one manager of one of my accounts that no matter what anyone does he is just not pleased, always says it can be better, how did I deal with it, I said I want you there the night I clean and after I am done you inspect it before I leave, he did, he watched, he said it does not look NEW, I said it is NOT NEW, it is CLEANED, he just did not know what to expect from a pressure washer as none of the previous ones ever explained what to expect nor asked him to watch them work.
Jon
Now here is something I do on every job, it is a mind set thing with me.
I look at every job as if it is "my own business" and I know I want it clean.
Like most of us I an pretty much tell going in what I will charge, what I can and cannot do and how it will look once finished.
I always check my work, partly because I have help and help never does the job as good as the boss and partly because I want to be sure of no call backs.
I have one manager of one of my accounts that no matter what anyone does he is just not pleased, always says it can be better, how did I deal with it, I said I want you there the night I clean and after I am done you inspect it before I leave, he did, he watched, he said it does not look NEW, I said it is NOT NEW, it is CLEANED, he just did not know what to expect from a pressure washer as none of the previous ones ever explained what to expect nor asked him to watch them work.
Jon
MarkBebout
New member
Mark,
I have seen this before, and it is now your job to make a tough judgement call. The one question that needs to be answered, and that will determine your response, is to find out what she is really unhappy about. Some people will be unhappy with a portion of the job and just call the whole job bad, you need to engage her in a conversation to get to the real problem.
If she is being honest you should be able to isolate the problem and fix it. If she is not being honest and can only tell you that the whole thing is not good enough (you know the kind), then I would suggest that you consider walking away from it. Unfortunatly, there are people out there who make it their sole purpose in life to never be happy with any work that is done for them. Now, here is what you must decide. What will you charge her? Many here on the boards here will recommend that you negotiate a fair price after the work has been done, but whatever you do, never work for them again.
I always say, screw me once, shame on you. Screw me twice, shame on me.
If this were me and I suspected that they were being dishonest and just wanted a better price, I would not only walk away from future business with them but I would also hand them a zero dollar invoice. If I take full responsibility for the work (even though a case could be made for charging something) then they have no problem with me (of course, I would not advertise that I work for free!) because it cost them nothing.
If they do complain about everyone and everything, don't worry too much about who they tell. Those types of people are usually surrounded by others who know what they are like so when she starts talking bad about your business, the people she is telling will probably feel sorry for you having to deal with her!
One other point, I would point out that I do not believe that it is a good practice to routinely discount your prices after you have done the job if a customer is not satisfied. In fact, most customers are willing to pay your price - if the problems are fixed. So when they are unhappy, try to get to the root of the problem and fix it rather than just offering to discount your invoice. You will have a much happier customer on your hands.
The ONLY time that I ever consider reducing my invoice is if when we are finished the customer is honestly disappointed with the results. Not disappointed because of our work, but because of the item being washed just won't get any cleaner. In this case, I MAY consider knocking off just a bit to ease the disappointment a little. However, if they request that I reduce my invoice, I never do. That is just my style, you will need to decide what you are comfortable with doing.
I have seen this before, and it is now your job to make a tough judgement call. The one question that needs to be answered, and that will determine your response, is to find out what she is really unhappy about. Some people will be unhappy with a portion of the job and just call the whole job bad, you need to engage her in a conversation to get to the real problem.
If she is being honest you should be able to isolate the problem and fix it. If she is not being honest and can only tell you that the whole thing is not good enough (you know the kind), then I would suggest that you consider walking away from it. Unfortunatly, there are people out there who make it their sole purpose in life to never be happy with any work that is done for them. Now, here is what you must decide. What will you charge her? Many here on the boards here will recommend that you negotiate a fair price after the work has been done, but whatever you do, never work for them again.
I always say, screw me once, shame on you. Screw me twice, shame on me.
If this were me and I suspected that they were being dishonest and just wanted a better price, I would not only walk away from future business with them but I would also hand them a zero dollar invoice. If I take full responsibility for the work (even though a case could be made for charging something) then they have no problem with me (of course, I would not advertise that I work for free!) because it cost them nothing.
If they do complain about everyone and everything, don't worry too much about who they tell. Those types of people are usually surrounded by others who know what they are like so when she starts talking bad about your business, the people she is telling will probably feel sorry for you having to deal with her!
One other point, I would point out that I do not believe that it is a good practice to routinely discount your prices after you have done the job if a customer is not satisfied. In fact, most customers are willing to pay your price - if the problems are fixed. So when they are unhappy, try to get to the root of the problem and fix it rather than just offering to discount your invoice. You will have a much happier customer on your hands.
The ONLY time that I ever consider reducing my invoice is if when we are finished the customer is honestly disappointed with the results. Not disappointed because of our work, but because of the item being washed just won't get any cleaner. In this case, I MAY consider knocking off just a bit to ease the disappointment a little. However, if they request that I reduce my invoice, I never do. That is just my style, you will need to decide what you are comfortable with doing.