10 Signs a Customer Is Not Worth Your Time

10 signs a customer isn’t worth the aggravation

While the vast majority of customers just want to be seen, heard, understood and have their problems remedied, some people will never be happy. Here are 10 situations where severing ties with a customer may be the right move.

1. The customer is unreasonable.

Reasonable customer behavior is subjective and based on your patience level and relationship with the customer. However, you’ll know unreasonable behavior when you see it. For example, an unreasonable customer may demand instant results without regard for you or other customers.

While businesses typically aim to sustain and grow customer relationships, sometimes this isn’t possible. If you feel a customer is being unreasonable, it may be time to politely tell them you can no longer serve their needs and that it would be best for them to seek a solution elsewhere.

2. The customer micromanages projects.

When a customer micromanages a project they entrusted to you, it can cause costly delays. If you know you’re the right person for the job and your client chose you for excellent reasons, don’t let them interfere with your work. Remind them that you are the expert and that’s why they hired you in the first place.

It’s OK for clients to want to be kept in the loop and have their suggestions incorporated, but if they continually badger you to do things their way, that’s overkill. There’s no good outcome for this situation. You’ll be frustrated, and the client will remain unsatisfied. 

Here’s one way to deal with a micromanaging customer: Every time they change something, ask them to sign a change agreement to your initial business proposal that covers additional fees for adjustments outside the project’s original scope. If they won’t stop micromanaging or refuse to sign the change orders, it may be time to cut your losses.

3. The customer won’t pay for your products or services.

You may encounter customers who don’t want to pay, particularly in the services industry. The situation is even worse when clients become unresponsive after you prompt them for payment, making your request seem inappropriate.

When clients owe you money, they may think your product or service isn’t worth the price. Some think if they’re strapped for cash, you’ve suddenly lost all desire to be compensated for your hard work. Clarify that this is not the case and you must be paid. 

One way to prevent nonpaying clients is to ask customers to pay upfront or collect payments at various project milestones. Have clients sign a proposal that outlines the payment schedule so you can refer to this legal document when payment is due.

If they still insist they can’t pay for your service — or they offer to pay obscenely little money — let them go. They’re not worth the effort.

4. The customer is rude or unpleasant to work with.

Welcome to the sad reality of customer service and the bane of businesses: customers who think the person on the other end of the phone, live chat or email isn’t human.

If someone verbally abuses you or your staff or makes work an otherwise unpleasant experience, get rid of them. Your company needs your employees’ loyalty more than a high-maintenance customer who can’t demonstrate basic courtesy. 

5. The customer takes up too much company time.

If someone reaches out to you or your service team too frequently, eating into your company’s time more than one customer should, it may be time to let them go. This usually manifests in one of two ways.

• Lazy customers: Customer service training ensures service reps patiently provide answers to obvious questions. However, sometimes, a customer will continue to monopolize your resources with questions and concerns you’ve already addressed. Beware of customers who needlessly drain your company’s resources.
• Customers with real concerns: These people have real problems that must be solved, but you may not be the appropriate resource to solve them. Determine the scope of their problems and whether it’s feasible for you to handle them, or let them find a more appropriate solution provider. If you spend too much of your time and resources on one client’s issues, you may diverge from your company’s goals.

If you decide a customer isn’t worth the time they’re taking up, let them go. You’ll save company resources that could be better spent elsewhere.

6. The customer threatens to leave or bad-mouth you.

There will always be customers threatening to take their business elsewhere. This is a scare tactic to compel you to do what they want. Don’t let these unprofessional customers destroy your business and hold you hostage. If they’re convinced that someone else can do a better job, you’re better off without them.

Customers also may threaten to air issues on social media or to leave a bad review to damage your online reputation. Even though you shouldn’t underestimate the power of social media to make or break a business, don’t back down if you’re in the right. The internet has a way of delivering justice to bullies who misuse it.

7. The customer is physically, racially or sexually abusive, or threatens violence.

This is a no-brainer. When customers use abuse or violence to express their frustration, it’s completely unacceptable. It’s not OK for customers to sexually harass you or your employees; disparage them on the basis of race, ethnicity or religion; touch them inappropriately; hurt them or threaten to do so. Involve law enforcement if this behavior occurs. 

8. The customer is unethical or dishonest.

Customers can be dishonest or unethical in their dealings with your company. For example, say you are a graphic designer and you agree to charge a client less for a logo design if they give you all of their brand image business, such as signage and stationery. Then, you discover that while they paid less for the logo, they hired someone else for other brand identity work.

In this case, it makes sense to stop working with the client because they took advantage of you and you can’t trust them.

In other circumstances, you might not have a problem with your client, but you discover they’re engaging in dishonest or unethical business practices. For example, say you’re an accountant and you learn that your client is underreporting income on their tax returns. The client’s dishonesty can hurt you, so you must send them a written notice of the discovery and your resignation.

9. The customer disappears when you need them.

Say you’re hired for a complex project with strict deadlines. You gather a team and prioritize the project, but you need precise specifications to meet the timeline — and the client is suddenly nowhere to be found. You get the information you need too late to provide an excellent product by the deadline. You’re frustrated and worried about your reputation.

Don’t take a disappearing, uncommunicative client’s actions personally. When clients ignore you, they’re probably just busy. However, this type of client causes unnecessary frustration and anguish. You can try strategies such as setting a clear timeline and keeping track of all communication, but if this behavior continues, the customer likely isn’t worth the aggravation.

10. The customer started at a much lower rate than you currently charge.

New companies may offer products and services at lower-than-market rates when they want to establish themselves and grow a client base. However, as they accumulate more experience, they raise their rates. The problem arises when early customers are grandfathered in at the introductory price. 

Discuss your new rates and the reason for your rate increase with the customer. If they’re unable or unwilling to pay a fair price, consider letting them go. This is especially true when you have plenty of demand from other customers who find your rates reasonable. 

Toxic clients can hurt your profitability.

When customers constantly demand more free or discounted products and services or are not paying at all, your company’s profitability will fall. 

Toxic clients cause you to waste resources.

Time spent dealing with difficult customers could be better spent improving your operations and growing your company. Employees’ time is better allocated to completing and servicing sales for good customers than to putting out fires for troublemakers. 

Toxic clients can prompt employee harassment complaints.

When employees are subjected to racist, misogynistic or other abusive rants from customers and you do not intervene, employees are within their rights to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). 

According to the EEOC, “The employer will be liable for harassment by non-supervisory employees or non-employees over whom it has control (e.g., independent contractors or customers on the premises), if it knew, or should have known about the harassment and failed to take prompt and appropriate corrective action.”