Some Customers Aren’t Worth Having

Ever business has them—customers who drive everyone absolutely crazy. It turns out, these thorns in your employees' sides may just be more trouble than they’re worth. Curt Coffman, co-author of the book Follow This Path: How the World’s Greatest Organizations Drive Growth by Unleashing Human Potential, observes, “When mutual respect isn’t present and cannot be created, the value of the customer dissipates.” Coffman, who is the Gallup Organization’s Global Practice Leader for Q12 Management Consulting, suggests companies ask themselves, “Are customers like these worth the effort that so many people must make on their behalf?”

In an interview with the editorial staff of AMA, Coffman observed that today we have an “emotional economy”—that is, one in which organizational success stems, first, from a positive relationship between employees and customers and, second, from financial and other more rational factors. Corporate productivity and growth demand that we look at the behaviors of both customers and employees, said Coffman, to ensure that the kinds of human relationships that transform businesses exist.

“Bad customers are costly, not only in terms of the additional—and sometimes limitless—resources they demand, but also in terms of the effect they have on the emotional states of your organization's employees and their level of engagement,” said Coffman.

Coffman and co-author Gabriel Gonzalez-Molina, Global Practice Leader for Gallup Path Management, have even identified these “Six Warning Signs” displayed by bad customers:

1. Employee Burnout. No employee should be subjected to bad treatment—including abuse—suffered when dealing with a customer.
   
   
2. The Problem Zone. A consistently negative attitude on the part of a client can wear an employee down. There may have been cause for negativity in the beginning, but if attempt after attempt to change the client’s attitude fails, then a parting of the ways may be better for both—particularly, if the morale of a good employee is being endangered.
   
   
3. No Respect. Lack of respect for either the organization or the individual who services the customer’s account may evolve into a personal conflict that makes it impossible for a sense of partnership to develop. Rather than lose a good client, you may want both the client and employee to agree to a set of ground rules that can address the initial difficulty and reestablish an attitude of respect between them.
   
   
4. Obstacles to Effectiveness. For example, a salesperson may be consistently denied access to vital information or a key decision maker. Whatever the problem, it is better to move on than try to close a deal with the potential client. “Admit that you don’t match up very well and move on,” suggest Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina. In many instances, doing so may even cause the firm to do an about-face and be more open to the representative’s need for more data or access to the decision maker.
   
   
5. A Relationship Based Solely on Price. When the only basis for a business relationship is a lower price, problems will likely arise at some point. These can range from the usual, “If you don’t match the price of your competitor, I will discontinue being your customer,” to the more subtle, “Next time it will have to be cheaper or else I will not come back.”
   
   
6. Taking the Relationship for Granted. Both sides must work to sustain a positive relationship. While we tend to think of this as a major responsibility of the salesperson, it is equally important for the client to stay in touch. The best customers don’t believe that “no news is good news.” Ongoing communication will alert your firm to new sales opportunities and will help it deal with problems before they get out of hand.

Follow This Path by Curt Coffman and Gabriel Gonzalez-Molina is published by Warner Business Books.

For more information on building customer relationships, check AMA’s sales and marketing seminars at www.amanet.org.