I think their are three principles to begin with.

1- when they don’t pay their bills
2- when they ask you to do something illegal
2- when they are abusive in their treatment of your employees (not a pain in the ass “abusive”)

Other than that I think it is a matter of making certain that the strategies your company employs ensures that a customer can’t take advantage of the company. Making sure you get sign off. Making sure everyone is clear about the rules of the game prior to beginning the game. Setting firm guidelines that let the client know what they will and will not be charged for.

I would prefer to do business with a handshake but that too often leaves things open for misinterpretation.

What really sucks is when you have a client that you bend over backwards for to make them happy. When you screw up a bit so you end up eating 10 times that to make it up to them but they show no appreciation. Hey it just ain’t fair but that’s life.

You made the decision to go up and above the call of duty because it is the kind of company and person you wanted to be. It is unfortunate when the person you did it for didn’t appreciate it but you have to realize you did it not for the person as an altruistic endeavor but as a business decision. That is the kind of company and person you want to be known as.

You also have to consider that in many cases there is a contract in place and both sides have an obligation to live up to it. Even if you want to fire the client if you they signed an agreement for a period of time unless they have violated it I don’t think you can fire them. However, at the end of the contract it makes perfect sense to do an analysis to determine if you want to continue providing the service.

When all is said in done let’s face it we are in business to make a profit so that is what you need to look at. Are you loosing money on the client?

Not for what you decided to do in order to go above and beyond the call of duty because you feel you didn’t meet your standard but for the long term. Track your time against what it cost you to service them. Figure there is some variance factor built in and if they fall below the threshold it is time to tell them they have to go because you can’t afford to do business with them anymore.

One other item that you could take into account is the mental toll it takes on your team. Is this client making it unbearable for everyone or are they just a basic pain in the ass that a company needs to learn to deal with.

In the end very few are going to hit the threshold of a client needing to be fired but they are out there. If you work for a company and you feel a client should be fired take your business case to the owner. If you have it documented properly from a business point of view you won’t come off as a self indulgent whiner and in fact may be demonstrating the kind of leadership qualities they are looking for.

A great question!

P.S. The other question about how much should we tell the client what we are doing is another very interesting one.

Also, some clients think that multiple emails asking ‘how’ and ‘why’ aren’t time-consuming. To combat this, I tell them that I have time on my calendear next week and recommend that we meet for a consult so I can answer their multiple emails in person. Here again — either they ‘get it’ and pay, or I don’t hear back from them again. And that’s okay! It’s taken me 13 years, but I finally have a grip on how to handle time moochers. I shouldn’t have to tell people that I charge for my time, but I’ve found that sometimes they just need a little reminder.