3 Polite Ways To Say No To A Customer You Don't Want To Work With

In business, you will always interact with customers. Some nice and some very unpleasant. Because customers are important to the growth of businesses and companies, you want to have a good relationship with them. They do not only grow your business but also provide free advertisement through referrals and help improve your services through their feed back. Nevertheless, you need to learn to tell your customers NO when what they want does not align with your ideas. This article will show you polite ways to say no to a customer you don’t want to work with.

In Nigeria, when bad customers want to justify their rudeness and poor reasoning, they bring up the commonly used phrase “customers are always right”. So while you may need customers, there is also a high chance that terrible people can leverage on that to bully you.

Truth be told, they are some customers who will never be satisfied. No matter how far you stretch yourself or how much time you dedicate to solving their problems. Some of them will still remain unhappy.

This is why sometimes, it is not about doing whatever the customer asks. It is more about what the customer needs that is not detrimental to the growth of your company.

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But Customers Are Not Always Right, Right?

Saying no to a customer is not a taboo. Sometimes it may just be an indicator that your values does not align with theirs. Trying to always say YES to customers can negatively affect your business.

Customers can be wrong and employees need to know this, so that they can handle the situation accordingly. Taking the side of the customer over your business may cost you everything.

Human wants are insatiable. Even the oldest and biggest companies get a few bad reviews for the flimsiest of reasons. People are unique and have different tastes. Treating customers as an entity is the best way out. For a business to be productive, you have to create your niche which cannot serve all customers.

Poor Facebook, someone obviously did not read Facebook’s community guidelines.

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Saying No To A Customer, How?

Every company has a mission and vision and the specific target market that they are interested in. To stay above water, your company has to strictly follow its calculated path to reach its goals. A customer wants what they want, when they have a different direction to what your business represents, you may have a problem convincing them.

However, this is not an excuse to be tactless or rude. One important thing your brand image should have is premium customer service.

These are 3 polite ways to say No to a customer you don’t want to work with:

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1. Make Them Feel Heard Before Declining

This is one of the polite ways to say no to a customer you don’t want to work with.

Again, even if the potential customer does not belong in your target market, you should still apply tact when turning them down. Remember, you want your business to be perceived as approachable.

“Sorry we don’t have that but your suggestions are one of the reasons we keep improving, thank you”

Customers want to know that their time is not wasted when they reach out to a business. Listen to what they have to say. Tell them things like “I understand where you are coming from” even if you will eventually decline.
Even though they don’t get what they want, they leave excited and grateful to you.

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2. Pitch Them An Alternative Solution

After listening to a new potential customer that you know does not fit your market segment, you may be temped to turn them away. But it is possible to make a sale without actually earning money. How? By selling a suggestion to them that takes them elsewhere but wins their hearts.

You can say no to a customer without saying the actual word. You can sugar coat it like this:

“Unfortunately we don’t offer that at the moment but we appreciate you for reaching out to us. Would you like to try this out instead”

Rather than getting offended for not getting what they want, they will feel valued.

Note: For customers who are bent on taking advantage of you, your “NO” must be communicated clearly and confidently. You will automatically cut off any room for manipulation. When you struggle with your words, it shows that, with a little persuasion, there might be able to change your mind.

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3. Ignore

Some customers do not back down. They become abusive, manipulative and incredibly difficult to reason with. After you have tried the polite NO, after you have suggested other alternatives to them, you may run out of room. At this point you want to block them or simply ignore their calls or messages.

This shows that your business is keen on maintaining a healthy work culture and unwilling to indulge toxic individuals who should ordinarily be seeking mental help.

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