Paranoid Much.

Met a new client yesterday that I thought had quite a bit of potential, them being a walk-in customers and looking to do renovation work for their kitchen that was of a very similar nature to the one I had just completed about a month back.




Initially I wasn't very interested to get any more new customers, seeing how I am currently running 2 projects on hand with another 2 that will probably start at the end of the year, I didn't want to encumber myself with new ones to worry about until at least one of these 4 current ones have been completed and handed over happily to the clients.





When they walked in, I wasn't the one who went to greet them, one of my managers did that and because he also had a tone of projects on hand, many times more than me, he didn't want to take any new customers as well, so he directed them to me.





The client were a pair of couple, somewhere in their late 40s, almost the same age as the Malay couple who also did their kitchen renovation with me, except this time, this pair was Chinese. I really enjoyed working with the Malay couple because they were really easy going and didn't rush for things to be done, they wanted the renovations to be done as soon as possible, like most homeowners would, but never once did they actually pressure me to be faster, even when the renovation brought them some inconvenience, they have never actually complaint and just found alternative solutions to the problems on their own.




Well, this Chinese couple wasn't as easy going, in fact, they were extremely wary of Interior Designers in general because of a bad experience they had with their very first Interior Designer.



The reason why I know that is because after the consultation session, I had a quick chat with them and learn that they have had experiences with Interior Designers before, curious as to why they did not choose to return to him for the current renovation needs, I learned that things did not end of a good note with them and their designers due to bad a lot of  promises that were were made by that Interior Designer that was not delivered.




I didn't have a good feeling about this because there was a very high chance that they could end up projecting their disdain towards their first Interior Designer on me, and every small delay could be a trigger for them to start going ape shit and accusing me of not delivering what was promised. Simply running through with them my company's payment method was enough to make them go super suspicious of me....

"We have to pay up to 95% before we even see the kitchen cabinets up? That is ridiculous! And you are telling me you have accreditation. I don't think a company with the proper accreditation would follow the payment method your company is following, I am also in a similar industry, so I know how this works."

.... he doesn't really know how this works, so I was curious, and incredibly annoyed, and asked him what industry he was in, to which he tells me he does commercial projects. So, it is a pretty similar field in a sense that we are both in the renovation industry.




I explain to them the reason why we are charging the way we are, and the wife looks to the husband and goes...

" Actually, that's like what your company does also."

... and then looks back at me and says....

"But if you put yourself in our shoes, would you be willing to pay 95% before you have even seen the actual carpentry?"

WHAT? You just said to your husband that his company does the same payment method as what my company does, so why are you asking me to put yourself in your shoes when you clearly understand that this payment method is completely normal. 

At this point, I was starting to get even more annoyed, so I reiterate that we can only deliver the goods when the payment is made, this is to cover our company's backside in case the customer suddenly decides they were not going to pay when the carpentry has been installed, to which the wife goes...

"Your company only covers yourself, never cover the customers at all."

... so I told her that we have an insurance that will protect their money should we run away with it, they still were not convinced and really at this point, I just didn't bother looking at them as potential customers anymore because they had more potential becoming a pair of huge pain in the ass. I mean of course the company has to protect themselves, there are all sorts of customers out there who would try their best to wiggle out of payment, if we were to give every customer the benefit of doubt, the company wouldn't be able to last.

During the course of our conversation, every time the wife says things that customers who are genuinely interested will say, things like...

"So when can we commence work should we agree to reward you with our project?"

... in my head...

... so I told the wife...

"Why don't you go to other Interior Design firms to compare the prices as well and look at their payment methods."

... because that was the nicest way tell them to fuck off, and then they left, I hope they won't call me back though, really hope they have found someone else because I'm really not that desperate to run the project for them.




Had I really wanted to close the deal with them, I honestly believe I could, because the wife was clearly very interested despite her reservations, but I didn't want to over promise and I didn't want to deal with them for a month, so I decided to let them walk out the front door and hopefully never return again. One can hope that they don't.