Episode 176: Firing Customers - Business Tip of the Month with Hal Denbar of National Pool Partners
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Google Podcasts, Youtube, or on your favorite podcast platform
Episode Summary
In today’s edition of Business Tip of the Month, we’re joined by Hal Denbar, President of Texas at National Pool Partners.
When is it time to fire a customer? Hal says that there are a number of reasons, the top three being issues related to payment, misaligned expectations, or the abusive treatment of his team members.
Ultimately, you have to be quick to fire bad customers for the sake of employee morale. “Cut out the cancer early,” says Hal. “Don’t let it fester. Don’t let it bring you down and make you lose your joy for doing what you’re doing, because that is contagious.”
Topics Discussed
01:27 - Firing a customer for abusing your employees
06:14 - Firing a customer for misaligned expectations
10:05 - How to avoid taking setbacks or criticism personally
14:09 - The importance of setting expectations with clients from the beginning
17:14 - The value of having a CRM
20:14 - Getting the service agreement right
24:34 - Firing to maintain employee morale
Key Quotes From Episode
One thing that’s very important when you fire a customer, is to be prepared for a bad review. [...] But once someone’s true colors have been revealed, we’re not doing business with that person.
When it comes to responding to a bad review or firing a customer, it’s always best to give yourself 24 hours. Take some breaths, think about it, or talk to somebody else. Letting that cool-off time happen will make for a much better result in the end.
The CRM is only as good as you are.
When it comes to firing a customer, the overwhelming majority of the time, the reason it has to happen is for the morale of the employees.
