5 sticky customer situations and how to deal with them

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Sticky Customer

Situations and How to Deal with Them

5Tom Walker


For startups, engaging early adopters can be like grabbing a tiger by the tail.

You’re dealing with product issues, operational issues, and cash flow (never enough), and yet you need to make the customer experience the best it

can possibly be.


There are many things you won’t have to face until your company begins to scale, when it comes to customers, the moment you sign up even one, there will be sticky issues you must address.

BU

T


Your customer owes you money.

If you have invoices that are outstanding 30 days or more, there’s some kind of a

problem that you need to address. You also need to understand if you are failing on their expectations in some way. If not, you don’t have to be heavy-handed, but you do need

to be clear about what you expect.

It’s great to have customers, but not if they don’t pay their bills. 1


You made a commitment to your customer that you can’t

keep. Once you know for sure that you can’t deliver, you have to tell the customer—

in person. If you can deliver an alternative, a concession, or some

other consideration do so. Don’t let it happen again.

There’s only room for one of these at most in a trusting customer

relationship.

2


Your customer complains about one of your employees or

subcontractors. Talk to the customer to fully understand the concern. Then talk to your employee or the manager of the

subcontractor. Depending on the nature of the issue, before you act, seek the council of a trusted board

member, your human resources sources professional, or an attorney

keeping identities confidential.

3


Your customer asks you to NOT accept business from their

competitors. Assuming that you have no

contractual obligation to comply, hear your customer out. They may be

willing to engage in an exclusive relationship that would be mutually

beneficial to you both.

Turn to a trusted mentor or board member for advice.

4


You hear through the grapevine that people at your customer’s

company are talking to your competitors.

Use the wake-up call as an opportunity to gain clarity about

how people at the company really feel about doing business with you—what do they like; what can you

improve.

Then get to work.5


The great thing about getting this gum on your shoes early is that you

learn to handle these things early in the company’s life —they never stop occurring—so

that when you do have many, many customers and you will have gained the experience to know how

your company chooses to respond.

5 sticky customer situations and how to deal with them

Small Business & Entrepreneurship