Closing the Front Door

[deleted user 436632456]

Last year a guy asked me to quote him to get his businesses compliance in order, a pretty big undertaking with SOP,HACCP, Working Plan, H&S, ISO and all that other good stuff to do as well. He needed this done ASAP.

Gave him a quote to then receive a phone call of him which was just a barrage of abuse, got called all the names under the sun, basically how dare I quote him such a figure, F off.

So... to my surprise when his name flashed up on my phone during the week,
He has achieved nothing, under serious pressure from regulatory bodies and realised maybe my quote wasn't too bad after all but did understand when I said I will have to re-quote him and it defiantly will be a higher figure than before.
I know he would have died a little inside when he phoned me.

What would you do??

A) Middle finger salute.
B) Be a great guy and help him out, Still re-adjust the quote but fairly.
C) Put the arm in and if he doesn't like it.. revert to option A

I like helping people out in their hour of need but this time I'm really just considering option A.

I hate closing the door without opening a window though

 

[Lofty1984]

Depends how many people you can afford to let him bad mouth you too, anyone who will listen I’m betting if you give him the middle finger as tempting as it is

 

[Chopsy Varmint]

B. You don't know who or what it could lead to in the future, good and bad.

Optimistically, he may have had some chippy corners knocked off and you'll be getting paid more for doing the same job you were prepared to take on earlier.

 

[Sharpy]

Do you really think he deserves a keen price? If he had called last year and politely said you were too dear, he was going to look elsewhere, then phoned now you would know you were reasonably priced the first time.
Personally I would quote fairly, on a signed contract, any abuse and the price doubles. Life is too short to deal with arseholes.

 

[Wurzeetoo]

Personally A. For the following reasons. He may be awkward to get the money out of after. There’s little chance he will be singing your praises in the local seeing as he deems your services over priced in the first instance. Remember no good deed goes unpunished, but I write this as a previous business owner who got pooped on from a great height too many times! If you can afford the hit and don’t think he will be a nightmare to work with go for it

 

[Zippy768]

B.
Still the same job you were willing to do, but more money.
But maybe you do not need the business

 

[deleted user 837354]

Customers who behave in the manner described in the OP are best avoided in my opinion. I would say you are sorry and really dislike having to turn work away but you are so busy that you just won't be able to complete the work in the time frame he needs. I would be extremely wary of big jobs turning up out of the blue, I might do some kind of smaller project for him in future, maybe.

To me, the kind of individual the OP describes represents a big box of unknowns, you may well complete the job for him and in full, he might even pay promptly and in full but it's an odds-on bet you will have no end of complaints and grief from it in the process.

A customer who does not understand your service/product fully nor appreciate the cost and work involved would trigger a lot of warning flags for me personally speaking. This is particularly pertinent as the OP is describing a regulatory area of business and so there is an immediate legal angle as well.

Do you really want the grief and potential negative impact to your reputation?

 

[Highland Mule]

Hourly rate, invoiced weekly and paid promptly, only releasing work once paid.

Ask yourself, do you need the money. If you do, maybe only add 25%, if you don’t, 75%.

What are your competitors charging?

 

[serf]

A . But prob not exactly the salute quoted , if he went off on one with just a quote he is prob going to be a whole lot of grief down the tracks , he could have got another quote before having a go your original quote to see how it compared !

 

[deleted user 436632456]

B. You don't know who or what it could lead to in the future, good and bad.

That's the problem, there is risk in all things in life and if you don't take on risk you will never get anywhere,
Could be best thing ever or could be a valuable life lesson learned.

What are your competitors charging?

Very hard to compare, I would be offering a more complete compliance package whilst others would be just be doing bits and pieces. Competitors would be getting a higher rate per piece work. I would assume that is why he phoned me back when he added all quotes up.

I do know that an another consultant quoted him £6,000 for a fairly basic HACCP for his small food business. I don't know where he got that figure from though, possibly just didn't want the work.

 

[bitwrx]

Do the work at the price you quoted before, and do a good job. Then he'll recommend you to his mates.

You're a consultant, running a consultancy business. Rule 1 of consultancy is don't turn work down. Rule 2 is don't pee of the client.

Plenty of time to feel smug once he's paid you.

 

[davidroberts30]

That's the problem, there is risk in all things in life and if you don't take on risk you will never get anywhere,
Could be best thing ever or could be a valuable life lesson learned.

I do know that an another consultant quoted him £6,000 for a fairly basic HACCP for his small food business. I don't know where he got that figure from though, possibly just didn't want the work.

option d

 

[farmerdan7618]

D. Politely decline the work and move on.

Lots of swearing at the quote means the work is likely to be more hassle than it's worth, but nobody benefits from having a go back.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

B.

I try to never burn a bridge "willingly", hard as that is. Consultancy isn't the big bunfight and beers that clients seem to assume it is

 

[Jackov Altraids]

Do the work at the price you quoted before, and do a good job. Then he'll recommend you to his mates.

You're a consultant, running a consultancy business. Rule 1 of consultancy is don't turn work down. Rule 2 is don't pee of the client.

Plenty of time to feel smug once he's paid you.

I can't agree with any of that.

Another year,another price.

It is better to turn work down than do unpaid or late work.

Why wait to be paid. He is entitled to feel smug now.

I can't quite understand the vitriol for the potential client. They were wrong to behave as they did but this is a very stressful and financially problematic for a small business owner and obviously wasn't coping with it well.
I would be clear that you don't tolerate such behaviour but are willing to forget it as long as it never happens again.

 

[Johnnyboxer]

Put your fee up 10-20% now and say it’s due to Covid with PPE etc
50% payable up front before commencement and engagement
Then at least you will know if he’s serious and exactly how much actual shite he’s in

 

[capfits]

With the greatest of respect how can anyone have a working, possibly longterm relationship with anyone who behaves as you say in the initial stages?

Just tell him to boil his head.

 

[deleted user 837354]

I would never respond to a client giving me verbal abuse over the phone by doing the same. That said, I don't care what might be happening in the client's world right now; it is unprofessional and demonstrates they are incapable of acting as an adult if they just default to verbal abuse because they didn't like the answer they got from someone whose help or service they are seeking. People who default to that kind of behaviour probably have some kind of maladjustment or something. Life is far too short to be relying on income derived from that sort of person.

When I am a customer I might (and I have done so) complain bitterly about a product or service I had received from a company that fell short of my expectations but I would never make it personal by abusing the individual who happened to be on the end of the phone.

If there is any cause to feel smug it has already happened because the man has had to retrace his footsteps and come back seeking the service again. I'd decline and move on and be the better man. There isn't much else in life if you can't hold on to your own principles.

 

[Chopsy Varmint]

Put your fee up 10-20% now and say it’s due to Covid with PPE etc
50% payable up front before commencement and engagement
Then at least you will know if he’s serious and exactly how much actual shite he’s in

That 10-20% is known as 'git tax' round these parts.

 

[deleted user 436632456]

I sat in his office last year for a few hours discussing all his requirements, got on well with him.
The phone call regarding the quote completely changed my opinion on him (possibly just having a bad day).
As nice as nice could be on the phone the other day (not my first rodeo, needs my help so has to be nice)

He is a farmer that has diversified into a few different projects over the last few years, hid behind the "simple farmer" line and COVID would have saved him a lot this year from regulatory bodies but time has run out for him and he needs help to get all sorted out. I did get the impression from meeting him that he is very good at acting stupid.

There's just this small voice in my head saying that its going to end up in a "mark that one down to experience"