Ya know, all of us want to please our customers. If we were the type of people who told the folks that feed us to jump off a cliff we would starve.
That being said there are customers who I no longer work for. Why, because I am unable to provide what they want. I never name names in such situations but let me give you an example.
A few years ago I had a customer who wanted me to work for him at 20% less than I did anyone else. He wanted me to do fast cut and cover work that looked awesome but cost little. He wanted to have things turned arround within a matter of weeks when at the time I had a three year backlog.
Was the customer unreasonable? No, those were his needs as a consumer.
However, I was unable to meet his needs as a provider. I would have been the one who was unreasonable if I had continued to accept work from him and expected to get paid knowing I could not provide what he needed. That is exactly how I explained it to him when I told him I was unwilling to work for him any longer. I was only looking out for his interest. I have not worked for him since.
This is a different perspective for sure. I have found that by refusing jobs in which I cannot provide what the customer wants, I save myself ulcers and avoid upsetting clients.
Ron,
When you tell a guy "NO I won't do that" you are not being unreasonable. I realize that this was the first time you worked for this guy. However, Now that you know his needs as a consumer and your ability to provide those needs, you need to consider carefully whether or not you are going to accept any more work from him.
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