SubscribeI had been working with a prospective client on a QuickBooks data project for a few weeks…figuring out the specs, analyzing a preliminary copy of their data, quoting the work, emailing lots of questions and answers back and forth.
And there was a growing feeling that it just wasn’t right.
The prospective client was pleasant enough and earnest in her desire to get a business information problem solved. But the project just wasn’t working.
We scheduled the work for a particular weekend, but she didn’t ’show up’ with her data. As it turns out, when I talked to her the next week, there were yet more questions and more assurances needed. The questions had already been answered, and the assurances had already been given. But they weren’t taking hold somehow.
I know it is hard to trust someone with whom you’ve never done business. That is a big part of my job — to help people get to know us and feel comfortable in using our services. We’ve been in business since 1986, have a strong guarantee, and have had scores of clients give us their recommendation for QuickBooks data repair, QuickBooks downgrades and data supercondenses.
But I can’t force trust. It must be given freely, not demanded. And trust is a two way street.
So when we seemed to get into a question churn mode that wasn’t progressing, I told her that for both parties’ sake we were withdrawing our bid. I tried to communicate to her that she needed to find someone that she trusted. I gave her some names. She asked me to reconsider, but I told her that I just didn’t feel comfortable proceeding with the job.
I’ve only turned away clients a few times in the 24 years and thousands of software consulting/support jobs I’ve managed. I hate to do it.
But one thing worse than turning away a client is taking one on and then later having to figure out how to disengage. Maybe a good way to avoid ‘firing a client’ is to not ‘hire’ them in the first place. At least that’s what my gut and experience is telling me.
What do you think about turning away prospective clients? I’d be interested in your thoughts.
I had a prospective client call me out of the clear blue once. That’s not in my daily routine. I don’t have much visibility outside of my normal circle of clients and acquaintances. He had an Excel problem and wanted my help. I was suspicious that it was some friend of mine playing a joke so I handled his questions cooly, answering them but not showing any excitement. He asked if he could email me the file and I could get started, I countered that I would need some cash up front before I could start any work since I didn’t know him. After about 10 minutes he decided to look elsewhere for help and I’ve always regretted that. In retrospect it appears that he was a genuine prospective client and that my suspicious attitude killed any possible relationship. I think I sh/could have handled it better.
Another time I got a call from an out-of-state branch of a large corporation with which I had an established local relationship. She wanted help with some data that I had helped with a year previously, but this time was different because I was going to have to invoice her branch directly. I insisted on a token $100 retainer fee upfront so that it could be proven that my invoice could make it through the corporate red tape and that payment would be possible. I was not surprised when the client resisted this suggestion because I knew that the corporation involved was red tape intensive. She offered to have her department manager send me a personal check, and I accepted that but regretted it as soon as I hung up the phone because that proved nothing about ultimately getting a big check from the corporation when the job was done. In the end I had no problem getting all my money. So in this case flexibility on my part resulted in a successful job and a nice paycheck.
In your case, Shannon, you seem to have decided that the client was not sincere and was just wasting your time. In the writing world that’s called working “on spec,” meaning that you write free outlines and synopses for the client, with the speculation on your part that they will ultimately contract your services and pay you. The Writer’s Guild has prohibited this practice and Hollywood writers pitch their ideas verbally off the tops of their heads, meaning that people get paid for their work and the Guild helps writers avoid getting abused by prospective clients. Each business person has to decide for themself when they cross the comfort line and I think when your client was a no-show for a weekend meeting (surely she called you????) I think you had a reasonable basis to say that you had crossed that line. Still, a prospective client is an entire tree of potential future business and referrals, so turning someone away is something that should be considered very carefully.
I really enjoyed your post!
Larry Brown
Actually, she did not call to unschedule the work for that weekend, and that told me something important.
Yes, each happy client is a tree (great metaphor!), but so is an unhappy one. I’ve read studies that show that unhappy customers give a bad report to two or three times more people than happy ones give a good report. In this particular case, I felt pretty strongly that the job wasn’t going to go well on the human side (as opposed to the technical side) so I cut my losses before we had waded in too deeply.
Thanks for your comments, Larry!