Re: How to Turn Down a Client

Keith,

I, also, most wholeheartedly agree with you as well. I have been in a
customer service business for close to 17 years. It is never a good idea to
discourge prospective clients by "stringing them along" until they get tired
of calling on you. It is disrepectful, unethical and poor business. First,
you never know when that small potatoes client who you blew off will become
a big fish you want to land (pardon the mixed metaphor). While it is OK to
turn them down because the account is too small, but be honest and tell them
so. Who knows, one day they may be big enough for your taste and they will
know you are a person of integrity. Second, you never know who they know.
Our company once had a small account that we treated very shabbily which
lead to their leaving us. Later, we lost the opportunity to land a large
account because the buyer knew the old account and told us he did not want
to do business with someone who treated clients so poorly. As several have
said, be honest and up front. In this case, tell the client that you
perceive that he needs help in getting focused and either offer to sign on
to do that as part of the package or find someone to colaborate with.
Business may be brutal, but it does not have to be nasty.

Edward Springer
----- Original Message -----
From: "Keith D Sellars" <Keith(at)webgraffix.com>
To: "Ben Ocean" <beno(at)cnw.com>
Cc: "Sandy Fields" <sandy(at)sannicron.com>; <hwg-basics(at)hwg.org>
Sent: Sunday, June 18, 2000 12:06 PM
Subject: Re: How to Turn Down a Client


> I most respectfully wholeheartedly disagree with this philosophy.  It
seems as
> if you are merely sinking to their level as a copout.  I can not STAND
getting
> "strung out".  Simply be up front with me and tell me the truth.  I have
built
> my business on a practice of honesty and making things as simply as
possible.
> Have some backbone and take a stand.  Earn their respect by being able to
be
> man or woman enough to stand for your convictions even when it comes to
what
> you expect from a customer (as well as what they can expect from you).
>
> My Humble Opinion,
> Keith D Sellars
> WebGraffix
> www.webgraffix.com
>
> Ben Ocean wrote:
>
> > At 01:33 PM 6/17/2000 -0400, you wrote:
> > >Here's my question:  *If* this guy calls me again and I find that he
still
> > >doesn't have a clue, how do I turn him down nicely?
> >
> > This may not sound like what you want to hear, but I've always found in
> > business that the best way to deal with people like this is to *string
them
> > out*. Find excuses for not being able to accommodate their needs: you've
> > got a deadline and you'll get back to them, you're too booked up right
now,
> > etc. They'll eventually get the idea and go away. I learned this from
years
> > of experience as a salesman: I got strung out a lot! Hey, it works, and
> > quite frankly, it's a *very* common business practice. HTH,
> > BenO
>

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