Over the years I have had customers call up with all kinds of wild claims after we have completed a job. For example, one customer complained that all of the paint was falling off of her wall. Such calls are certainly distressing. Nobody likes to have their work criticized. And a professional contractor would be concerned that his work isn’t performing as intended.

I have heard many contractors dismiss such calls as a “picky customer” seeking to get free work. But unless I am very much mistaken, contractors are not mind readers. To claim to know what a customer is thinking is simply irresponsible.

Just as you can’t price a job without putting your eyes on it, you can’t determine the legitimacy of the customer’s claim until you look at the area of concern. In other words, you first must get the facts, and nothing but the facts.

When I visited the customer who claimed the paint was falling off of the wall I discovered something interesting. First, she had greatly exaggerated the problem–there was one small area where the paint had peeled. Second, not only had the paint peeled, but there was a gouge in the drywall. When I pointed this out, the customer admitted that she scraped the wall while installing a new toilet paper dispenser.

While there are certainly customers who try to get free work, there are also customers who have legitimate complaints. And we simply don’t know which is which until we get the facts.

If you have been in business for very long, you have likely run into a customer who can’t find anything right with your work. They mark the slightest imperfection with blue tape. They stand on chairs, use mirrors, and more to inspect your work.

Such customers are much worse than simply frustrating. They threaten our reputation and our profit. And if we don’t deal with them properly, they could hold us hostage for a very long time, demanding that we redo our work over and over.

The best and most effective way to deal with this type of situation is to avoid getting into it to begin with. That might seem like an easy thing to say, but more difficult to actually do. I do not concur with that evaluation.

The fundamental issue with the overly picky customer is unrealized expectations. In other words, they expected one thing and received something else. Why did this occur? Why did the customer expect one level of quality or appearance and actually received another?

I put the bulk of the blame on the contractor. One of the primary goals of the sales process is to set reasonable expectations. We do this by asking questions, listening to the answers, and then educating the customer. We must try to uncover the customer’s expectations long before we start the job– how else can we propose a job that will meet those expectations.

In the case of the overly picky customer, this can easily be identified during the first meeting. Ask the customer if she is happy with the last paint job. If not, why not? If so, what did she like about it? Ask her what level of prep she desires and the appearance she seeks for the final product. If her expectations are unreasonable, you now have an opportunity to address that fact. If her expectations remain unreasonable, you can refuse to submit a proposal.

The second part of avoiding overly picky customers is to have a well written contract that details exactly what is included and what is not included. This helps define expectations and does provide legal protection for both parties.

If you fail to do the above and find yourself dealing with an unreasonable customer, I cannot offer much advice. You cannot reason with unreasonable people. All you can do is remain calm, stand your ground, and get through it.

Interestingly, in the past few years I seem to be attracting more and more customers who tell me up front that they are very picky. Every one of them has been thrilled with the quality of our work and the service we provided. Many have called us for more work. The “secret” was understanding their expectations, and then delivering.