Drop it like it's hot!

I am truly fascinated by the 1% client base we have that is costing us 20% of our income to maintain. Yes, I am talking about the excessively demanding clients. I didn't even finish writing the sentence and I already can see an email coming in from one of them. A day doesn't go by without something to be done for them. Sometimes they are right, often they are not. Mostly they are not. And it takes a lot of time to figure out what the problem is, to later realize that they are just wasting our time chasing after things we shouldn't be chasing after.

Then I read about Sprint Nextel and how they were axing their clients, because of their complaints.

"While we have worked to resolve your issues and questions to the best of our ability, the number of inquiries you have made to us during this time had led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless needs," the letters said

.

How about that! My favorite is this:

Singleton said the review also found that the subscribers often were calling about the same problems over and over after Sprint officials felt they had resolved the issue. She said some callers were repeatedly asking for information from other customers' accounts, which customer service workers aren't allowed to divulge.

I feel the same way about our 1%. There is a difference in philosophy though. I think of the time we spend dealing with the difficult clients as part of improving the service. Consider it practice for the next customer. It is an investment in fine-tuning how you do things to avoid some of the issues that arise. Perhaps clarify some things before you start with a customer. Manage expectations better. Because, at the end of the day, the complaining customer is one whose expectations were not met. Dropping them is like passing on an opportunity to learn.

I would never pass on such an opportunity.