Knowing when to walk away

Published 1 day ago • 1 min read

Dealing with difficult customers isn’t just about being polite and professional.
It’s about patience. Boundaries. And knowing when to walk away.

I learned this the hard way.

There was this one job where nothing was ever good enough. Her yard looked like a rubbish dump — food scraps, buckets of rotting shellfish, TV boxes tossed into the garden. But she fired me for supposedly leaving “tracks” from the mower across the carport. (The only way to get to the lawn.)

There weren’t any tracks.

That’s when I realised — some people don’t want help. They want someone to blame.

Over time, I’ve worked out there are four kinds of tough customers:
❌The complainer who grumbles about the weather and the government. They’re usually okay, but they’ll chew up your time if they come out every visit.
❌The perfectionist who just needs you to actually listen. These are fine once you nail what they want.
❌The late payer who needs clear rules from day one. Easy fix, be firm from the start.
❌And the nitpicker who will never, ever be satisfied.

Each one needs a different approach.

And if you can’t (or won’t) do what they want?
Sometimes the best move is a price hike that makes them fire you.

You don’t have to win them all.
You just have to know who’s worth keeping.

Until next time, get out there, mow lawns and have fun

Stuart

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