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Some in the industry are of the opinion that the "bad" paying customer cannot, by definition, exist, though often enough such opinions come from the same group of people who state that there is no such thing as "bad" publicity. In reality, this is far from the truth, particularly for a business owner looking to develop a viable, growing business. Ultimately, you need to have the power to choose your own customers from the pool of those who wish to make purchases from your business. Yes, that is correct: you have to have control over choosing your customers!

Doesn't it make sense to accept business no matter who it comes from, as long as they are willing to give you their money? In my opinion this question can be clearly and emphatically answered in the negative. With business there is no shortage of short sightedness when considering ways of increasing cash flow, and this acceptance of any customer is one type of short sightedness. Most people agree that misleading and manipulating people into purchasing your products is not a wise way to run a business. However, there are many business owners that are otherwise rational that assume that they can't afford to turn away business, no matter how it comes. This temptation is particularly strong when first starting out in the business world and money is tight, but the long term risk to the success of your business is also at its greatest at this point.

Business owners are best to be wary of customers who are a poor payment risk. It is tempting to sell to anyone in order to make a profit but in the long run you will lose money. The main problem is that these people are usually willing to purchase even thought they know they cannot afford the item or service that you offer. By the time you take these people through collections you will probably still wind up without any money. A result of this kind of business can be seen in the recent mortgage industry crisis. People who could not afford mortgages were approved and now cannot pay. As a result of these poor business decisions the country is now in a recession and we all suffer. Remember to do a through investigation into the financial capacity of potential customers and you will save yourself a lot of lost time and money.

Believe it or not there is one group of paying customers that you would be best not to do business with. These are the constant complainers who are never satisfied. You can usually pick out these customers because they are very vocal and will tell you about problems they have had with other companies. Even though they have the financial means to pay you the headaches that you will experience is not worth the effort. The idea is to be aware of these people and you will gradually learn how to weed them out of your customer base. One way of doing this is to find out if they have a legitimate complaint against another company. If you know the company they are complaining about has a good reputation then it is probably best to avoid these people. Once they purchase something they are always complaining about it and you will probably be on their bad list with your competitors also.

The consumer organizations above are too often passed over by most companies. On the other hand, there are some consumers you will want to do without. These consumers have no need for your products or services. A lot of companies feel that it is up to the consumer to figure out what they want to purchase while the company is out to sell as much as they can to any consumer. But this is a not a good long term plan and will negatively impact your business. Once a consumer is dissatisfied with your product or service, you will be blamed, even if it is not your fault. You are well-advised to be honest from the outset and admit you are not sure your business can satisfy the consumer's desires and you cannot risk disappointing the consumer. To get around this problem, you need to accurately characterize your product or service with no hype typical with most ads. Let them know exactly what you have so they will be sufficiently informed. Better yet, find out exactly what they need to ensure that what they desire will actually perform up to their expectations. It may turn out that an alternative offering you can provide may work better for them, or you may not be able to satisfy their desires. If this is the case, it is best them to give them a referral to a place that can help them. You will likely get business from such a person at a later time when you might be able to help them.