If you’re great with customer service, help me.

[Anonymous]

I own a B2B service business. I was hired by a business last year. I do offer a guarantee, and my contract spells out the specifics.

I have a client who is upset with me because they didn’t read the contract before signing and misunderstood the guarantee. Let’s just say I guarantee revenue of $100k in the time period we work together. I not only hit that target with this client, but tripled it ($300k revenue). They misunderstood this to mean I guaranteed at least one *sale* of $100k, which we did not get.

In our initial call before they signed, I said something along the lines of “I guarantee sales of at least $100k”. The contract specifies this is total revenue, but they are taking this as proof that I meant I guarantee at least one single sale of $100k.

Obviously, I have an attorney in case this escalates. But I would like to try to de-escalate this before it gets to that point. However, I am not willing to do additional work for free or give a refund.

To make matters worse, this is a family business with many large personalities involved, and tension among them is very high.

Any tips for what I can say beyond “our contract states XYZ”? I have already sent them a copy of the contract but they are insisting I misled them. I also know as soon as I go down that route, I will start getting scathing messages from them. So hoping to de-escalate things.

[Anonymous]

Can you meet in the middle? Although the contract says this, I hear you that you understood that. Let's meet in the middle and .....

[Anonymous]

I think your client doesn't read very well and you are unlikely to appease them by stressing this.

Are there gender dynamics involved? Woman to man? That might be a factor.

Are $100K sales at all common? Are they far more profitable than 10 $10K sales? Can you figure out how much profit they think they didn't get?

Can you comp them on a bit more service to get rid of them? They could just be those kind of people who don't want to pay and frequently complain to get discounts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think your client doesn't read very well and you are unlikely to appease them by stressing this.

Are there gender dynamics involved? Woman to man? That might be a factor.

Are $100K sales at all common? Are they far more profitable than 10 $10K sales? Can you figure out how much profit they think they didn't get?

Can you comp them on a bit more service to get rid of them? They could just be those kind of people who don't want to pay and frequently complain to get discounts.

Yes, there are gender dynamics involved.

$100k sales actually are fairly common, and I’ve gotten them for most of my other clients. But, there are many other factors at play that I can’t control. For example, if their sales team sucks and they refuse to fire or let me train them, I can’t guarantee one of their sales reps will make a $100k sale. But I can send more sales calls their way and increase the total volume until we hit $100k. Which is why I guarantee total revenue, as I have much more control over that.

And no, it’s not more profitable to make one $100k sale instead of 10 $10k sales. And actually, I got their profit margins MUCH bigger than most of my other clients get, about triple the industry average. But, they don’t care about that, they are hyper focused on the $100k thing.

I could comp them, but I think this is just kicking the can further down the road. I think they will still be unhappy with any additional services until I get them a $100k sale, which I honestly don’t think they’ll be able to get anytime soon.

[Anonymous]

I'm an attorney (although not the kind who would assist you in this case) - my suggestion is generally to say less. You have pointed to the contract, it was clear (the rules of construction point to the more likely interpretation, which yours is), I wouldn't say much more now.

[Anonymous]

IME it just is not worth dealing with people like this.

Figure out a way to minimize or end your business relationship- keeping them as happy as possible. Which may include a refund or comp.

And screen better next time and/or change your process to be more clear upfront. Perhaps make some changes to your standard contract to make it clearer.

[Anonymous]

They don't want to pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm an attorney (although not the kind who would assist you in this case) - my suggestion is generally to say less. You have pointed to the contract, it was clear (the rules of construction point to the more likely interpretation, which yours is), I wouldn't say much more now.

Agree 100%. Look, you don't want a long term relationship with these people. Any common sense read of the contract supports your position. They are trying to get out of paying. Insist on payment under the contract terms and cut your ties once they pay. If they don't pay, take them to court.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They don't want to pay.

Then you sue them and you will win. Words mean nothing, contract does. Not your fault they didn't read it.

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry you misunderstood these terms, but I am delighted we were able to triple expected revenues.

[Anonymous]

If sounds like they have paid your bill in full - given your statement that you do not want to provide a refund nor offer additional services.

So a) what is that they want and b) what are you agreeable to offering. Based on your posting it sounds like not a thing.

I own a residential remodeling company. I mainly do whole house remodels so people basically pay me on average 1M to rip apart their perfectly good homes and put them back together again. As you may imagine I often have customer experiences issues.

My overriding theme when dealing with these issues - even with people that I realize are being less than forthright is to ensure I always engage in an ethical manner and to completely remove the issue.

So you are complaining about x, if possible I take it completely off the bill.

Agreeing to hire me and spend 1M+ with my firm takes a faith in me and my firm.

I may have clients that are not happy with how we cleaned up, or how long things took to finish, but I want to ensure that all my past clients will say that I always behaved in an ethical manner and that my work was meticulous - and yes that even goes for the few scoundrels I have inadvertently worked for.

I can’t tell if you are getting scammed by this client or if perhaps some of the family member don’t want to pay. My advice, if you can afford it, is to refund their services or whatever they are asking, smile, and wish them the best of luck. And then beg off any additional work requests.

Easy to say - not so easy to do I know but it’s not about them - it’s about you and your business’ reputation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I own a B2B service business. I was hired by a business last year. I do offer a guarantee, and my contract spells out the specifics.

I have a client who is upset with me because they didn’t read the contract before signing and misunderstood the guarantee. Let’s just say I guarantee revenue of $100k in the time period we work together. I not only hit that target with this client, but tripled it ($300k revenue). They misunderstood this to mean I guaranteed at least one *sale* of $100k, which we did not get.

In our initial call before they signed, I said something along the lines of “I guarantee sales of at least $100k”. The contract specifies this is total revenue, but they are taking this as proof that I meant I guarantee at least one single sale of $100k.

Obviously, I have an attorney in case this escalates. But I would like to try to de-escalate this before it gets to that point. However, I am not willing to do additional work for free or give a refund.

To make matters worse, this is a family business with many large personalities involved, and tension among them is very high.

Any tips for what I can say beyond “our contract states XYZ”? I have already sent them a copy of the contract but they are insisting I misled them. I also know as soon as I go down that route, I will start getting scathing messages from them. So hoping to de-escalate things.

Did the other party sign the contract ?

I am confused by your statement: "I have already sent them a copy of the contract...." When did the other party first receive a copy of the contract ? Was it a signed contract ?

My impression is that you had an oral understanding/misunderstanding and when it became clear that there was a misunderstanding, you produced a written version of the oral agreement. Is this correct ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I own a B2B service business. I was hired by a business last year. I do offer a guarantee, and my contract spells out the specifics.

I have a client who is upset with me because they didn’t read the contract before signing and misunderstood the guarantee. Let’s just say I guarantee revenue of $100k in the time period we work together. I not only hit that target with this client, but tripled it ($300k revenue). They misunderstood this to mean I guaranteed at least one *sale* of $100k, which we did not get.

In our initial call before they signed, I said something along the lines of “I guarantee sales of at least $100k”. The contract specifies this is total revenue, but they are taking this as proof that I meant I guarantee at least one single sale of $100k.

Obviously, I have an attorney in case this escalates. But I would like to try to de-escalate this before it gets to that point. However, I am not willing to do additional work for free or give a refund.

To make matters worse, this is a family business with many large personalities involved, and tension among them is very high.

Any tips for what I can say beyond “our contract states XYZ”? I have already sent them a copy of the contract but they are insisting I misled them. I also know as soon as I go down that route, I will start getting scathing messages from them. So hoping to de-escalate things.

Did the other party sign the contract ?

I am confused by your statement: "I have already sent them a copy of the contract...." When did the other party first receive a copy of the contract ? Was it a signed contract ?

My impression is that you had an oral understanding/misunderstanding and when it became clear that there was a misunderstanding, you produced a written version of the oral agreement. Is this correct ?

I wrote the above. OP, I suspect that you may be in the wrong. Why ? Because you wrote that you have an attorney waiting to handle this matter, yet you chose to crowd-source the matter on an anonymous internet forum.

OP: Was the first time that you produced a written "contract" after the other party paid & complained ?

[Anonymous]

Also, ambiguities in a contract drafted solely by one party are often construed against the drafter of the contract.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm an attorney (although not the kind who would assist you in this case) - my suggestion is generally to say less. You have pointed to the contract, it was clear (the rules of construction point to the more likely interpretation, which yours is), I wouldn't say much more now.

+1