Just Say No?

There are people who seem to sense it, aren't there? They know when they've pushed you exactly far enough, and back off.

A customer picked up a repair yesterday. He had given me a terrible amount of grief over it, changing the order, asking for this, demanding that, begging for alterations which were a damned chore (to say the least) and so on. I told me brother Phil, "That guy better appreciate this job, because the next time he calls I'm telling him I don't want his business."

Of course when he picks it up, he can't help but gush over it. "Man, Cosgriff, it looks brand new! It sounds great! You really did a bang up job on it. I can't wait to try it out. Man, I appreciate this. You guys are like brothers to me!" Then he actually hugs me, and insists I take a tip.

Maybe I'm fooling myself, but he seemed sincere. I'm going to have a hard time telling him no on his next repair. If I even can.

The duck's back theorem of life

There are a few things he said which I try to live by. I was reminded of one such thing a few days back.

I was quoting a repair to customer A as customer B walked in. Customer A feigned a heart attack when I told him the price. He then turned to B and said that I was killing him. I jokingly told B that he may as well leave, that I wouldn't need his business after I was through extorting customer A.

Anyways, A says he'll think about it and leaves and I began to deal with B. To my delight, B being familiar with what A wanted, he first remarked, "I don't know what his problem is. That was a very good price you gave him." I said thanks. It's always nice to hear that you're actually an honest businessman. He continued, "How do you put up with that?". referring to customer's A's gyrations.

"Water off a duck's back, my Pops used to say," I told him. You can't let obnoxious stuff like that bother you. Let it seep away.

I try to remember that, because customers, hell, people in general, can be hard to deal with. Myself included, quite frankly. You just have to strive not to let it bother you. That whole incident was over in about 40 seconds. Why should it bug me? Okay, arguably I am letting it bother me right now, but to a purpose. I'm using the incident as an illustration. Don't let those things trouble you. Let them flow away like water off a duck's back.

I don't think it a bad way to conduct yourself at all. And by the way, A came back the next day and paid my price with no more issues. I like to think he realized he was being treated fairly after all.