Dear Dr. Mimi: Worn Out

Dear Dr. Mimi,
Is the customer always right? We have a particular client whom we just can’t seem to please. They are the only customer who constantly complains, and it is wearing on my employees. This is a large contract, and I would hate to lose it. However, I have had one employee quit over this client. What should I do?
-Worn Out

Dear Worn Out,
Instead of customer service, I prefer the term customer management. It’s estimated that as many as 90 percent of customers who perceive themselves as having been wronged never complained, they just take their business elsewhere. So angry, complaining customers care enough to talk to you and have not yet decided to take their business to the competition. Meet with them and tell them that their complaints do not seem valid and that it does not seem that you can satisfy them. You want to keep their business, but if they continue to complain and cause dissension, they will need to take their business elsewhere. Eight out of ten times they will beg you to keep them! However, know that there are some customers who are simply not worth the effort it takes to deal with them.
-Dr. Mimi

Written By

drmimi

Leave a Reply

  • Dear Dr. Mimi – Backup

    Dear Dr. Mimi,My boss favors another employee and schedules them for more shifts. We are on the same skill level and have had the same training, but I am being treated like a “backup” for them. I am afraid to bring this up to my manager for fear that they will reprimand or even fire…

  • Dear Dr. Mimi – Overworked Student

    Dear Dr. Mimi,I am a working college student, and my company is supposed to be accommodating to students’ schedules. However, my boss keeps asking me to come into work at times she knows that I have classes or study groups. I have tried to make this issue known to her, but she keeps dismissing me.…

  • Dear Dr. Mimi — Frustrated

    Dear Dr. Mimi,I trained a new employee about a month ago, but they still don’t seem to be getting it. They mess up almost every task I give them. What can I do to fix this? Should I just fire them?—Frustrated Dear Frustrated,It can be tricky working with new employees. If you think they are…