A challenging conversion – the difficulties and rewards of demanding customers

 

Every provider of a service has experienced them – the customers that demand absolute perfection whether it is relevant or not. They see and find every perceived error or inconsistency and will insist on fixing the issue, however unimportant it is and how much work it would take to do it “right”. Suddenly, a simple job becomes a never-ending series of conversations and revisions. The craftsperson wants to scream and tell the client to take a flying leap but cannot. Instead, grinning and bearing it becomes the only option. A more positive method of dealing with such perfectionists is to meet their demands with the knowledge that the willingness to go the extra mile will financially pay off in the future. These customers are the best clients to have in a certain sense.

To clarify what a demanding customer is, it is important to distinguish between price and quality issues. Customers that negotiate money constantly and irrationally are not long-term assets. The energy invested in setting the cost combined with the resulting low rates do not justify the work. Moreover, they will switch to another provider in the blink of an eye as all they care about is price. By contrast, some customers are perfectionists and are only satisfied with the highest quality from themselves and others. It is not personal. The relative importance of a deviance is not relevant as only 100% is acceptable. They have no compunction about demanding correction after correction until the result meets their expectations. In the meantime, the actual time spent on the project has doubled or even tripled. Such people often get under one’s nerves.

However, in the long term, demanding customers are the best long-term asset in terms of direct work and references. Once a provider has passed the test, such a customer is not likely to switch to a less expensive provider as long as there is no change in the work level because they are not always willing to spend the effort to train a replacement. For example, every time my wife buys glasses, it involves numerous adjustments until they are perfect. She has gone to the same patient optometrist for over a decade. She is happy with her glasses but he has clearly profited from her loyalty as he patiently makes the adjustments for each pair. On a marketing level, perfectionists tend to be extreme in their opinion of service providers, i.e., someone is excellent or incompetent, with little in between. When demanding but satisfied clients recommend you, their words have authority and bring results.

Thus, when dealing with the seemingly unsatisfiable customer, it is best to take a deep breath, be patient and think long term. Getting angry does not improve your work, mood or health. Such clients demand a professional approach. When they receive it, they appreciate it. Ultimately, they become loyal customers in all the meanings of that term as well as the anchor of any business.

Pearl Buck wrote (I think) that, regarding the conversion of Asians to Christianity in the 19^th century and early 20^th century, one Japanese convert was worth three Chinese converts as the former would never revert. Likewise, winning over one demanding customer is worth three one-time clients in the long term. Hopefullly, that thought will help some freelancers gather up the patience and strength to go the extra mile.