would refusing clients be illegal?

[bell]

I wondered would it be legal to offer 'preferred client' deals in the way that some businesses have 'preferred suppliers' ie to offer services to a company with the promise that you will not offer these same services to their competitors or a company operating in the same area as themselves? Through the way my work is starting to evolve I'm beginning to act more as an advertising and pr agency than a a freelancer, which is what I was doing before. The concept does sound a bit arrogant, especially considering the fact my company is only small but clients have sometimes voiced concerns before and it is something I would like to offer as a sweetener.

[Coding Monkey]

"Sacking" clients is a part of business. If they're not reliable, they're not benefiting your company or they're just wasting your time, you get rid of them. Nothing wrong with that.

[10 Yetis]

As you will know, quite a few clients often insist on you only working for them in their chosen sector. That being said there are a few bigger agencies that take on multiple clients from the same sector as that is their specialist area and they have enough employees to make sure teams do not work on more than one company from the same business area.

It all comes down to you being able to do the very best for each of your clients. If you have two from the same sector and you do more for one than you do for the other for the same amount then that is (in my mind) a definate conflict of interests.

Moving back to your orginal question, offering a preferred deal to one client is also fairly common place across many sectors, especially deals such as loss leaders etc.

The one area where this is a big no-no is in Financial Services due to the FSA (financial services authority) largely focusssing on the area of "treating customers fairly". A very very hot topic now both in regulatory and legal terms.

Hope this helps.

[Steve Roberts]

It's totally up to you if you choose not to sell to a client - same as it's up to a client if they choose to buy from you or not. I have a highly effective principle in my company: "we only work for nice people".

As such, if a client is rude for no reason we'll ask then to desist. If they're rude for a 2nd time (for no reason) we'll send them a letter saying "here's your money back, because only work for nice people". I've only had to do it half a dozen times, four of which came back cap in hand apologising profusely. The other two we could do without their business anyway. The real upside is the goodwill it creates among my own staff - they appreciate the protection we offer them from obnoxious people!

[DuaneJackson]

The same happens with SEO. We can't realistically promote two companies for the same keywords, it'd be totally unethical besides anything else.

I had a client threaten to sue me once when I told them I no longer wanted their business.

[Toon]

I'm in the clothing business where this sort of thing is common. Many suppliers wont supply to us because they're not looking to supply anyone else in the area as they usually only one have retailer per set area. Plus others may not supply to you because your website looks crap and they simply sont want to deal with you. I know someone who used to buy a well known brand of jeans from a supplier (in fact I think he's registered on these forums) and sold them on. He then tried to get an account with this brand direct who then told his existing supplier to stop supplying him and wouldnt supply the guy unless his website looked more professional.

[creospace]

I carry the same entiments as steve and mac. I only will work for nice people and those who pay on time. Some say better late than never but persistant late payers are no good to my business

[DuaneJackson]

Ditto, I've told a number of clients to get lost becuzse they were persistent late payers.

In the same situation now with a client - we're half way through a big job and waiting for payment 2 of 4 which is now 3 weeks later and causing me cash flow problems. I'd rather have spent the time on smaller cheaper jobs that actually paid on time.

Guess what I'll be saying to this client when they come back for more work? 100% payment up front or go elsewhere.

[Toon]

I'm so glad I always get paid before I do any work. I'd hate to have to have people owe me money.

[seabro]

I recently told a persistent VERY late payer to go elsewhere. Later I felt like I had let myself down and not handled the situation properly.

Having read the comments above I feel a bit better.

[Cornish Steve]

I don't think the matter is as clear cut as some are saying. I'm not sure about UK law, but you can be clobbered in the US if it's found that your company discriminates against one group over another. Even if no law is broken, you can be pillaried in the press.

For example, several reports reveal how banks deny loans to black families when they extend loans to white families with exactly the same financial credentials. Using the excuse that "I only work with nice people" won't cut it in cases like that.

Discrimination laws are becoming far-reaching. You can be accused of discriminating against women, against older people, against people from other countries, against gays, against the physically or mentally challenged, and so on.

Aside from the legal ramifications, it's a matter of fairness. Why shouldn't everyone expect the same level of service from you? How would you react if, during a moment of temporary duress in which you snap at the person behind the counter, an airline refuses to sell you a ticket simply because you were rude?