obsessive compulsive !? customer delema

[kodydog]

What tips me off is if their house is always immaculate. Always in perfect order. Everything scrubbed and polished, no magazines on the coffee table, even the carpet is vacuumed with all the nap going the the same direction.
Also if they say they were disappointed with the last upholstery job but can't point out why. Might want to stay clear.
One lady (a designer) was complaining about the terrible job her paper hanger did. Looked fine to me. She said when she got home and saw what a sh**ty job he did she said, Harry how could you f**k this up. I called her later and said thanks but no thanks.

[sofadoc]

I had one OCD customer that brought a chair in to my shop a few years ago. After choosing a fabric and confirming her order, she started to walk out the door.
She turned around, and walked back over to her chair, bent over it, and bit off a loose thread with her teeth. She said that she knew it would be coming off when I stripped it down anyway, but she wouldn't be able to sleep at night thinking about that loose thread.
I waited a couple of weeks, then called her and made up an excuse as to why I wouldn't be able to do her chair.
I'm usually pretty good at spotting a problem customer. When I do, I make up any excuse necessary.
I don't want them to go away mad, I just want them to go away.

[Mike]

she used the horrible phrase ''I don't want to insult you but "' 
We all know they do want to insult you with that crazy line.

my ocd woman used the same line we let each other go.

[gene]

I have a customer who has CDO. That's OCD but the letters are in the correct order.

If there weren't crazy people in this world I would stand out even more.

There are some people who complain because that is what they do. There is no rhyme or reason, or logic, to it. It takes some effort but if I can accept that they are a complainer and that's just what they do, i.e., it's not about me or my work, it helps me to not take it personally.

I would not want my life to come to a screaching halt so I could bite off a thread that I knew was going to be pulled off when the old fabric was removed. That's sad!

gene

[lc]

Our job is to respect every personality out there ., we learn how to smooth it out to get our business any way we can, even when we don't agree with their thinking .

I think that people who act like they are above us are plain and simply insecure . I think most of us can agree.
We get to suffer the price at times with dealing with them.

I am usually good at what I call defusing someone who may be skeptical ...she was an exception

[stitcher_guy]

The point that stood out with me -- because I've run into this as well -- while you have doubts about your abilities because of her ditching the sofa/having another shop work on it/etc..... she has MORE WORK for you.

She will never be happy with anything, but doesn't mind trying to spend money going for perfection. Car and boat people are the same way. They have in their head how perfect something should be. It is either impossible, or not feasible from a budget standpoint, yet you give it your all. They will leave you feeling you did a bad job, when in reality they are bragging you up to their friends.

Disliking the outcome isn't a reflection on your work, it's more her inability to accept that something is actually done to a point of satisfaction. But you obviously came closer than anyone else she's used if she's coming back. I like these customers as repeats, because the following jobs I can be "in their face," which is what she probably wants. Get cocky with the next project. As she's talking about firmness, tell her flat out "no, you'll hate that foam. We're using this foam." When she shows you samples tell her "Oh my heavens!! Are you serious? You know that you're going to like XXXX better" and show her what you will be using." Wasting the money is a gamem to her, and she's found a suitable opponent.

You've passed the test with that first project, whether she kept it, burned it or donated it to charity. And if she has more work for you, then that means her pocketbook is open and she wants to hand the cash to you. TAKE IT!!!!

[Mike]

What tips me off , no magazines on the coffee table,

I gueese I'm good to go

[lc]

Money to burn is an understatement ...I hope they give to charities as well..we have to work our butts off to get a few dollars unlike a dentist per say..he takes out a tooth that took 5 seconds for a couple hundred dollars.
Wish we had it that easy .
I think when we get a difficult customer they are on the defensive in some cases due to being ripped off or something ...when I get a customer like this I give my big smile and do the yes maam no maam to a certain degree., then once the job is finished they are a totally different person and you win their trust for other work

I think much of the problem also lies with some businesses that 'do' rip people off or say they'll go and see the customer yet never show.

As for the perfect houses where everything is in its place ..they must have a maid ! They would get their fingernails broken if they were doing the work .ha ha

Kidding of course.... I live in a modest bungalow magazines strewed everywhere but thats because I don't feel I need to have a show house I am too laid back for that ..I have to live here .,not my company that these people feel the need to impress with their expensive homes and gizmoes.
As for her getting me to do her other two chairs I will do them and they will be sooooo  perfect !! she will not get to me anymore I am busy enough without her but I sure wouldn't complain if she went elswhere.

[Mojo]

I did want to bring up one other point. Time is Money. I am to the point right now where I have to watch every single job I take. I am booked solid till the end of April now and for me to take on a fussy customer who will consume my time with phone calls or visits will in the end cost me time which will cost me money.

I simply do not have time to screw around with goofy customers. That is time I could be sewing and if I can kick more orders out the door faster I can squeeze in another order or two. If I take on a customer who eats up my time then I am going to loose.

I was so pissed at myself when I took that re-sew job on. I should have known better and sometimes I just do not know how to say no. I was screwing around burning up time while looking at my order board that is loaded with$ 800 dollar high margin jobs and here I am busting my butt over a stupid awning re-sew that netted me $ 75.

At the moment I can be very picky as I have more work then I need. I told one of my dealers to send all the re-sews and used canvas work to someone else as I do not have the time. Every bit of time I can save means I can move more orders in the door as well as allow myself some time off. This 6 and 7 days a week in the shop is getting very old.

So my advice is when you get a PITA customer that eats up valuable shop time you need to consider working with them again. This is why I LOVE my customers...........I deal with almost all of them through e-mail's...........lol

Chris

[lc]

I've been in business only a few years and at this time I am not as busy as I would like., it goes in spurts so I guess I still have some grovelling to do.

I worked for twenty years with a very reputable business and they moved shop to the small town I live in not long after I started up.

I worked in the back when I worked for them so no-one would know who I was when I started my business therefore I have to get myself out there and now compete with a business that already has a reputation.
I felt sort of stepped on when they moved but I respect them ., they just happened across a good deal in the area but it took a whomp out of me....I get busy but not as much as I would like.

[kodydog]

As for her getting me to do her other two chairs I will do them and they will be sooooo  perfect !! she will not get to me anymore I am busy enough without her but I sure wouldn't complain if she went elswhere.

That's a good attitude lc. I know what you mean by winning there trust. Once someone gets burned they are leery to try another upholsterer. You can see it in there eyes when you pick the piece up.

One good thing about working for difficult people is if you can please them they will tell all their friends.
We did a lot of work for a man in town who owns a restaurant. He was a little compulsive but not obsessive. We have got a lot of word of mouth business from him and every body says, if you can please him you must be good.

I've worked in several shops over the years and they seam to be split on two different business models. Some shops want to get it in and out fast as possible, even if it compromises quality. these shops are easy to work for because they never send anything back to be tweaked. But it makes it difficult if you are a quality conscious upholsterer.

The other type shop wants quality over everything else. Not to say you can poke around and take your time, you still have to make the owner money. But they will send it back if they see something wrong. And even though its more difficult, that's the type shop I'd rather work for.

[lc]

I totally agree .
The shop I worked for had nothing but utmost pride in what went out the door . Furniture stripped to the bare frame . Totally reinforced.,proper paddings the whole nine yards.
The work was inspected thoroughly before going out the door .We upholsterers would show the other something they overlooked without taking offense  . I don't believe in shortcuts., I think they come back to haunt you.
I am proud to have learned the trade with the proper training . Some shops its all about the money get it in get it out ., I take my time and do it right.

[kodydog]

I worked in the back when I worked for them so no-one would know who I was when I started my business therefore I have to get myself out there and now compete with a business that already has a reputation.
I felt sort of stepped on when they moved but I respect them ., they just happened across a good deal in the area but it took a whomp out of me....I get busy but not as much as I would like.

Sometimes when one door closes another opens. Trust me lc there is nothing like working for yourself. You just need to get your business built up. And the people on the forum will help you do that.

[Mike]

This 6 and 7 days a week in the shop is getting very old.

So my advice is when you get a PITA customer that eats up valuable shop time you need to consider working with them again. This is why I LOVE my customers...........I deal with almost all of them through e-mail's...........lol

Chris

]
Chris i used to work 7 days a week for many years in NH in seasone so i feel for you. sounds like you yeally need to  figure out how to slow down ant take it easy. like this wekend ive been working in my gardens.  and as for pickey custmer ive had 2 in the last few years one when i fished wouls fond some other little things to pix on then when i fixed that had to leave later to find somthin else. i walked off that one  for a few $ and last one a lady who picked on the tighness of gromets and when redone wanted to install them herself  ::)

[byhammerandhand]

I read this book last year, and somewhere in it, probably the chapter on "The perfect is the enemy of the good," the author talked about a major cause of depression is people who expect perfection, but can't realize they live in an imperfect world.
http://www.amazon.com/Too-Soon-Old-Late-Smart/dp/1569243735/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330272659&sr=1-1


A good article on the subject:
http://www.woodshopnews.com/columns-blogs/finishing/498313-practice-doesnt-need-to-make-perfect

Best line out of there is :  Unless the customer has unlimited funds to spend on the repair, or the repair technician is willing to work to satisfy his own perfectionist ambitions on his own time, and at his own cost, there will be limitations to the resources available for a given repair. There will be constraints relative to the tools the technician has at his disposal, his skills, the environment in which he works, and the time available for the repair.