Customer relationships have to be win-win. If they aren’t, it’s time to end it. However, it shouldn’t be a quick decision, nor should it happen in an email or text. There is a process, and today we will look at when and how you should sack a customer.  

This topic came up on a recent podcast. Robert, who works in software development, has a pickle from time to time with annoying customers. Sometimes, Robert says, no matter how much time, effort, and investment you put into improving the customer relationship, it remains dismal from both perspectives. While Robert believes in fixing the relationship, he also wonders if there is a point where it makes more sense to go their separate ways. How should companies decide when and who should make the final decision? Also, Robert wants to know if there are any traps to avoid in the process. Finally, Robert asks how to handle firing a customer in the best possible way?

Now, we have covered this ground a little before on the podcast, with our episode, “Why You Should Be Proactively Firing Customers Without Hesitation.” In it, we introduce the idea that complex customer relationships take a toll on your organization in the form of resources and employee experience. In some cases, they can drain the organization to the point that it is no longer worth continuing. So, despite the title, we recommend “hesitating” a bit by trying to resolve the situation first before letting them go. 

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