“Everything has to come to an end, sometime.” –L. Frank Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz
“That jerk face jerk butt jerk monster jerk. They want to ‘part ways’? I’ll show them PARTING WAYS!” –Typical Businessperson, while lighting fire to desk and all personal belongings
Having a customer break up with you stinks. And it’s easy to react with anger and arson rather than taking Mr. Baum’s more philosophical approach. Losing a customer hurts, even if it’s not a real blow to your bottom line. And it’s easy to say, “screw ’em” and never talk to them again.
But take a look at how GrubHub responds to losing a customer:
Instead of writing the customer off and having a business tantrum (like a regular tantrum, but you get bonus points if you can make a corporate buzzword into an f-bomb), GrubHub is practicing good communication and using the break up as a learning experience. Are you sure you want to leave? If you are, tell us why so we can treat our other significant others better.
Losing a customer is an opportunity, and that’s not just some new age mumbo jumbo I learned in anger management after making one too many desk pyres. How do you end things with your customers?