Yippee.. I get to fire my first client...

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She WAS/IS my first client..
I made a desperate decision to accept her 'lowball' offer because I wasn't sure if A- I was going to get enough clients to generate a good amount of money
B- I needed, as soon as possible, to get some working references.

Well, she pays 35 dollars for
an entire house cleaning.. this includes things like baseboard cleaning, sweeping the ceiling, carpet stains, etc..
Laundry-wash , fold , iron
And
A cooked meal

AND i do this in under 3 hours
AND- she only pays 35 dollars
AND she is almost 30 miles one way
AND she thinks she should get a discount...
AND the work list gets longer and longer....harder then ever to keep it under 3 hours. Sometimes, it takes me 3 1.2 just to finish...

but- there is no real reason that I can tell HER that I need to drop her as a client.
I cant tell her that I think she doesnt pay enough. I was the one who agreed.. how ever desperate I was feeling.. I AGREED.
I cant tell her she lives too far. .. again.. I AGREED.
I want to keep her as a possible reference. .. but that may /may not be an option because she got services so cheap, im afraid she would talk about that.

so,
how do you fire a customer?
I want to give her a good amount of notice... a week or so.. if not longer..

Honestly, Im thinking of lying my way out of this.. but .. that doesn't make me feel too good..

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I would simply say that demand has increased since you initially negotiated her rate, and that you regret that you'll have to increase it. Since you want to continue your current excellent level of service, of course.

Unless you have a signed contract, then the relationship is at the will of both parties.

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If you're ready to fire her anyway, then first try to bargain. If the bargaining doesn't work, the deed is done.

Just something like, "This has been a great learning experience, thank you. One thing that I've figured out is that it is not reasonable for me to do [all of what you do] for only $35. [provide documentation here if you can, going rates, whatever.] The options are a) I do less for the same money [offer exactly what] or b), I do the same for more money [say at least a ballpark of what you have in mind.]"

Keep it light and professional, and you'll either get what you want (so make it what you want, in case she says yes) or she'll say no how no way and that's that.

Good luck!

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Some sort of itemization might be good -- ups the professional factor. Can include how much it costs you for gas.

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What's the distance of the round trip? If it's 45 miles then more than $15 is going to travel costs.

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honestly, I dont want to keep her at all.
Another reason I was hesitant to let her go is because I didnt have another opportunity to fill that income slot.

now i do.

So I dont want to approach her with anything that really says.. " Hey I will stay if..."
But, knowing her the way i do, I would bet that she would back down from a rate increase. ..

hmmmm

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oh, and no.. there is no ' working contract'

just a simple paper that lists what i DO and says that I will give her 72 hours notice on any schedule change, and that she will give 48 hour.

thats it..

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So call her up and say, "Three days from now I will no longer be showing up."

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It doesn't really matter that you agreed, you are free to change your mind. You can tell her that you have other clients (hopefully this is true) and that the distance is no longer reasonable. But I agree with soz in general. Bargain first if you can, unless you really just don't want to do it anymore.

I haven't been following for a while so it's good to hear that you did find work and that things are looking up.

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Why would you worry about using her as a possible future reference? Judging by the sound of her, she may not feel like lowering herself to give you a glowing reference anyway.

I would tell her what the new rate is (a fair amount, to make it worth your while) and if she doesn't like it, she can extend an index finger, sit on it, and spin.

You are obviously a hard worker with a good deal of common sense. In a very short while, you will have built up a good client base and won't have time to drive 30 miles to a job.

In three months time, you will look back on how she screwed you and laugh.

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oh yeah FD- things are working out really well.
To the tune of 20 an hour and more then 500 a month. ;-)
all done in evening hours , for maybe 3 hours at a time.

wich is perfect. Perfect time schedule, perfect hourly rate, perfect amount of work... and so far, ( first customer aside) I have gotten some really WONDERFUL clients.

I think, what I can do is just .. as soz said.. explain financialy why I am choosing to leave. But try not to leave it open ended as if there is room for discussion.
I really dont want to drive that far anymore. That is about 30 minutes one way.. actually, more then that..

She is a great woman.. just not a great customer..

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That's great news.

I might throw the issue with the commute out there too as a way of indicating that it's not all about the money and there's no room for negotiation.

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The rule is...you must refer your worst client to your biggest competitor. (Is Merry Maids down there?)

I like the suggestion about thanking her for giving you your first break, but now you have other clients paying you twice as much (or whatever) for the same work, and it has become a hardship to drive so far. So you think it's best if she contact Merry Maids (or whatever) in the future.

Try to be light and breezy about it, and leave things on a pleasant note. You never know when you might need her business again. (It could happen.)

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is this in writing?

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HA! referring her to Merry Maids... Laughing

I should have done that actually.

So, what I told her was that ( and i stretched it a bit)

That we were moving, and the commute as it is right now was almost 30 miles and that was getting hard , and from our new place, it was going to be longer then that and I would have to increase her rates to cover that.
I said, "I know you are on a tight budget and really need the help, but more then that you need it affordable, and I cant give that to you from my new home. On top of that, I will be so far away, the chances of me NOT arriving on time, due to traffic , my bad timing, construction or waht ever... like I tell you I will, would go up and I would be unreliable to you. And that isnt fair either.
So, Im giving you a good amount of notice so you have time to find a new worker.

Then i offered to keep this saturdays appt.. but she wrote back and said se had arranged for a service to come out so I didnt have to keep it.

yeah.. i stretched the truth.. im bad..
but it worked

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shewolfnm wrote:

oh yeah FD- things are working out really well.
To the tune of 20 an hour and more then 500 a month. ;-)
all done in evening hours , for maybe 3 hours at a time.

.

I am in the wrong business. Shoot.

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I rather like DrewDad's answer to the real queston.

ON the matter of rates, we get the office cleaned weekly for $60.00. That's 4 offices and the reception area. We're satisfied, and it is way less time and labor than the one house you describe.

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Travel time to and from your clients is an expense you need to factor into your rates. We charge a trip fee to each of our clients; we base it per client on how far away they are. You could just roll it into your quote, then you don't have to worry about the travel; you're getting paid to do it.

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Don't worry about leaving one client for a better one, in my business we think of it as a promotion (for ourselves).

Drew is right about factoring in your travel into your fee. People hate to be nickle and dimed with things like "I charge $1 for every mile over the first 10" or such. Better to give them one solid number so there's no confusion.

I'm really glad this job plan worked out for you SheWolf.

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Thanks GW.

This has been the best decision I have made in a long time. Perfect schedule , easy hours , and great money.
I can be the stay at home mom I want to be, while bringng in a good amount of money and not having to miss dinner ( much.. hehe )

I think, from now on I will factor in travel time.
I never thought about doing that.... but then again.. I wasnt thinking things through very well when I started this work.
Maybe just a simple flat rate of 5.00.
For the clients I have that are just up the street the 5.00 wont make much of a diffrence for me and will be just profit... For the ones across the city, that will ensure gas money to the work site.

Thanks for that idea DD.

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Yippee.. I get to fire my first client...

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