How to politely get rid of bad clients

[antropy]

Recently we had a client that we used to do a fair bit of work with but now just seems to be wasting our time. A couple of times they have asked for an estimate but then either doesn't reply or says no this is out of budget. But they have emailed a few times now and keep not moving forward. Would it be unprofessional to say something like 'we will only estimate on this if you will move forward' as otherwise I feel we will just be stuck in a cycle of estimating and not moving forward?

 

[AllUpHere]

Tell them you now charge upfront for estimates.

 

[WebshopMechanic]

Yup, been there and done that. This certainly highlights that there are 'good clients' and 'bad clients'.

Even if they are worth a few grand a month, they can still cause issues and be detrimental to your business and other clients. Time is the most precious resource we have. No point having the money if you can't enjoy the time to spend it.

As @AllUpHere said, I'd charge for the quotes / estimates. But I would also sit down with them and plan a future roadmap to grow their business. Sound them out and ask them what budget they have available and get them to commit to it. If they can't commit then be honest and say that your business needs to move forward and that you will help them transition / move to another provider.

What's the point of treading water with someone? You want to be helping them to grow and be success. If you're not moving forward then the relationship is just dying.

As long as you are honest, there is no problem serving notice to a client in that way. If they throw their toys then it's probably because you were bending over backwards and they will no longer be able to take the pi55!

Just my thoughts.

 

[billybob99]

If they don't reply it means its out of their budget and if they tell you its out of their budget, then you know the story.

How can you tell someone you'll only estimate a piece of work if they'll move forward - they don't know the estimate yet.

As above, invoice for the time taking to estimate the work.

 

[Darren_Ssc]

Recently we had a client that we used to do a fair bit of work with but now just seems to be wasting our time.?

Being polite might help? There may be reasons why they are wasting your time but this isn't some random person spamming your contact form is it?

 

[Paul Norman]

Actually, your question contains the answer.

Politely tell them you no longer wish to work with them.

The key is the polite bit. They might get angry, but that is their problem.

I had to do this very early in my career. We had a customer who was costing us more than we could ever hope to gain from the relationship. My boss, at the time, instructed me to do the deed.

I phoned them up (we phoned people in those days) and calmly, and politely, pointed out that the whole purpose of a business relationship was for both sides to gain something, and neither of us were doing that.

The guy did get angry for a while. But after that phone call we never heard from them again.

 

[paulears]

I had this with one client - the idea was that he did the engineering stuff and then I'd get to take care of the kitting out, and I'd drive all over the country, but he never seemed to win the contracts so I got the expenses of the visit, but never made any money. After telling him I couldn't do the next couple of dates I think he got the message.

 

[MBE2017]

I would ring them and just ask outright why they no longer send you the work, and depending on the answer bridge the problem or inform them you decline to quote.

 

[estwig]

Thank you for your enquiry. Very sorry but we have just won a large Commercial contract we have been chasing for sometime, we are now unable to take on any additional work for the foresable future.

I wish you all the best with your project.

Polite, gets to the point and draws a line under things. Works for me!

 

[obscure]

Sounds like they need to get a minimum number of quotes but, for whatever reason, keep giving the work to someone else.

Your options are:
1. Say you are unavailable and don't wish to quote for the project (end the relationship).
2. Say in a polite way that you have done X number of quotes but have not got any of the jobs and that this is costing you money. Say that hence forth you will need to charge for quotes, but will off-set this against the fees for any work that you secure.
3. Ask them if there is a problem and if there is anything you can do about it.

 

[Mark T Jones]

How much time/effort does an estimate really take?

If it’s a matter of 15 minutes, then I’d offset it against the past / potential value of the client. If it’s a day, then I’d certainly go with the above

Can you develop some well-aimed questions to give a clear indication that it’s a real project?

 

[antropy]

How much time/effort does an estimate really take?

If it’s a matter of 15 minutes, then I’d offset it against the past / potential value of the client. If it’s a day, then I’d certainly go with the above

Can you develop some well-aimed questions to give a clear indication that it’s a real project?

It usually takes around 15 minutes, its just the frustrating part is the continuous not going ahead. I think sounding them out more around budgets and whether the project is actually planning to move forward? If they are vague once I have asked these questions then I think it would be best to not do any more estimates for them. Thanks all for the above advice and will certainly take it all on board. Alex

 

[Aurelius]

Do you follow up on your estimates? Do you ring up and ask if they have made a decision on that estimate yet and if you lose it do you ask for feedback as to why you were unsuccessful?

I send repeat quotes out often. Generally I find people are just rushed off their feet than intentionally stringing me along.

 

[antropy]

Do you follow up on your estimates? Do you ring up and ask if they have made a decision on that estimate yet and if you lose it do you ask for feedback as to why you were unsuccessful?

I send repeat quotes out often. Generally I find people are just rushed off their feet than intentionally stringing me along.

We do follow up and this works really well with other clients. However with this client even when we follow up they either do not come back or say no.

 

[gpietersz]

No indication of why? Were they an easy client to work with in the past?

It sounds to be that they are trying to get better prices.

If they have been a difficult client in the past, I would forget them. A difficult client who has become more difficult sounds like they are not worth it. If they have been a good client in the past, you really need to get some real answer about why they say no.

Have you considered any internal politics that might be a problem? One person wants you to quote and another does not want you do to the work, or similar

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Talk to them and find out why they keep asking for quotes but giving no feedback, you can then find out if they are with someone else but need three quotes to keep management happy or just offering the work to the cheapest

If they are seen to buggering around just reply, "sorry unable to quote at this time"

 

[mikespencer]

It is really difficult work with bad clients.

 

[Instamixes]

Working with bad clients is not easy at all. You can politely tell them that you can not work with them anymore. You can lose some money now, but it will be beneficial in the long run.

 

[antropy]

Working with bad clients is not easy at all. You can politely tell them that you can not work with them anymore. You can lose some money now, but it will be beneficial in the long run.

100% agree with this. You spend more time trying to deal with them and make them happy that actually you end up losing money on time wasted. Alex

 

[DavidWH]

Next time they ask for a quote, politely decline

"I'm afraid this isn't the type of project we're looking to undertake at the moment"

We try and get budget out of customers, if it's not realistic, we decline it there and then and suggest they look at alternative suppliers.

A small deposit before we start work, or even inviting them in for a meeting usually filters out the time wasters. If they can't be bothered to pop in, or don't value your time enough to pay for it, on to the next one who will.

Be careful though, it can be quite addictive sacking customers every now and again we have cull!

 

[Simon Berry-Hill]

Its easy, just decline to quote. We don't suffer fools in our business what so ever. As previously stated Time is your most precious and expensive commodity don't waste it on bad prospects or customers. So they might get angry ! so what its your business, you control it, you are one that has to pay the wages every month. You owe it to your staff to exit this client stage left pronto.

 

[Mark T Jones]

To throw in a little curve here; my second biggest earning client last year took me 10 years to properly acquire . Did the odd car here and there, but none of the stuff we really like, hire stock and marquees.

Due to a fundamental change in their business they came over to us - we are now very much their 'go to' for all asset finance; and that is unlikely to change (unless there is another fundamental change)

One of the privileges of running your own business is being able to make judgement calls..

 

[GURUCLOUD]

We get this an awful lot and its usually because a Uni or Company has a policy of needing x amount of quotes for what they have (coming for renewal) or looking to purchase.

Its the online equivalent to tyre kicking however to echo the above, we've been providing quotes to one company for almost two years and they just went with us on the last project. That was the 6th quote that they had requested. Now we're talking to them about moving some of those other projects over to us come renewals. Double edged sword.

 

[StevePoster]

Don't be afraid to tell your clients directly but in a approachable way for them to feel comfortable even if your statement is deniable for the clients.

 

[antropy]

Don't be afraid to tell your clients directly but in a approachable way for them to feel comfortable even if your statement is deniable for the clients.

Yet still making sure you get the point across that you don't want to work with them again. Alex

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

We recently dispensed with a customer who we've done stuff for for many years. Orders went from 'can we have 50 more x,y,z' to 'how much would 50 of these cost?'

They bought from us for quality, design, assistance, free delivery and price.

As soon as price became the overriding factor we said cheerio.

A week later they called to ask if £12 for a particular item from their new supplier (we were charging £7) was a rip-off

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I explained this only last week

" You run a fantastic business and you have great staff and we all get on really well . but !
We cant do any work with you anymore . Every collection you arrange is a nightmare and yes you always pay the extra charges but all this hassle runs into the next day and I don't have the time budget to dedicate such resources to it . So I am very sorry we can no longer help " !

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Don't forget that often the buyer is one person making the rules, and a new buyer may be promoted or take over in the near future, so be very careful how you burn your bridges

Life changes remarkably fast these days just ask Mt Johnson

 

[antropy]

Don't forget that often the buyer is one person making the rules, and a new buyer may be promoted or take over in the near future, so be very careful how you burn your bridges

Life changes remarkably fast these days just ask Mt Johnson

I would beg to differ. If you approach a company about looking for a quote or working with them then you will expect to work by there rules, not yours. You are the experts so you should expect people to follow your advice rather than the buyer making up their own rules. Alex

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Bit confused at what you are trying to say there

Your customer who has a buyer will often want you to supply xxx number of items by xxx date at £xxx per order, A new buyer is promoted in the company and may be less demanding in how the order is fulfilled making it easier for either of you to deliver for whatever reason

Where does the expert bit come in

 

[Craig3141]

No idea if this works. I have heard of people who will just make sure their quote is too high, so the client will turn them down.

 

[estwig]

No idea if this works. I have heard of people who will just make sure their quote is too high, so the client will turn them down.

It doesn't help, you'll still win the work, an arseh*le client will eat through no amount of funds, and your sanity at the same time!

 

[Bigred2019]

We have this quite often in our line of work as an equipment distributor.
If price is the driver with a new potential customer, we outline our USPs, but if price is still the sticking point, we’ll hold steady. Experience over the past 10 years suggests that the customers who want the lowest price will take up the most amount of our resource and time.

On the flip side, if we are working with someone but they become more resource hungry (our equipment is quite technical to install), and they are at a margin which means we aren’t realising their value as a customer, we’ll really politely discuss with them that we need to increase our margin to accommodate the additional resource. Some customers understand and allow us to realise some more value, some customers would rather shop elsewhere. Ultimately, we always view the customer supplier relationship as a two way street. Both sides have to see value from the relationship or it just doesn’t work.