As a follow up to my post on January 24th - Here are 4 things to do if you already have the problem customer. (High Maintenance – Low Pay, etc.).

1. Get money up front. If a customer is a slow pay customer, inform them that all future work will require payment up front. If you lose the customer over this, it is probably a customer you do not want to have long-term anyway. If not, you can continue to work with the client with assurance you will get paid.

2. Renegotiate the terms. If a customer has obtained a discounted rate or special accommodations based on a promise of substantial work, do not be afraid to go back and renegotiate. It is usually better to say, “We provided this discount based on your representation that you would be bringing $50,000 worth of work a year. We can no longer justify giving you this discount in light of your actual volume.”

3. Set clear boundaries with the customer. If a customer is overly demanding for the amount of work they receive, simply tell the customer that the amount of work provided does not justify the demands. Indicate what you believe to be reasonable accommodations for the customer and stick to it. You may lose the customer or the customer may conform to your requirements. Either way, your business will be better off.

4. Fire the customer. Despite what a new business may think, some customers are simply not worth having. For example, I recently had a customer who expected us to continually give him discount work. When he would have a question about any matter he would demand an immediate response to a question on some trivial matter. Needless to say we terminated our representation of him. The amount of revenue lost was very small and it enables us to give better quality service to those customers who value the relationship.