Home Business Tips

Letting Go of Some Customers

A home business conducts advertising, marketing, and networking so that it can have new customers.  They are the new sources of income.  The home business also offers discounts, privileges, and extra services so that it can keep its customers.  Customers who come back provide a steady stream of cash inflow.  Thus, new and repeat customers help the home business grow and expand.

As a positive policy, all new customers must be treated as potential long-term patrons.  These customers must be treated with respect and their capacity to pay should never be questioned in an offending manner.  That is, the home business owner must emphasize the benefits of the products and not the deadlines for payments.

Unfortunately, a few customers do not face their financial responsibilities.  These are the ones who send delayed payments.  Or they send payments that are lower than expected.  They are also the ones that need to be reminded again and again of their financial obligations.

For big businesses, the presence of these customers may not have a significant impact on the profits.  But for small and newly-established home businesses, these customers hold the flow of cash.  When one delinquent customer does not pay, there may not be enough cash to fund the order of other customers.  With such customers, the home business owner will find it more profitable in the long run to let go of such customers

To keep customers happy and satisfied, a home business owner may provide extra work for special requests or preferences.  For example, a customer may want to have his name engraved on a special pen he purchased from the home business.  The fulfillment of such requests is a great strategy in encouraging the customer to place additional orders.

Unfortunately, some requests of customers are unreasonable.  The additional materials may not be easily available or the time table given is impossible.  When a customer who brings repeat business, constantly requests for extra services that are time consuming or not financially feasible, the repeat order may not be profitable at all.

Many new home business owners bend over backwards to please their customers.  While this may be a great move to prove the resourcefulness of the home business, fulfilling difficult requests over and over again may prove to be less advantageous.  And letting go of such customers becomes a better move.

Obviously, the letting go of customers must be done in a delicate way so that it does not offend the exasperating customer.  One subtle way is to inform the customer of the unavailability of some items that he wanted, and that he may find such items in other business establishments.

Small/Home Business Tips, Customer Service 2006-02-13 Home Business Tips