Customer Service March 26, 2010, 2:10PM EST

Eight Reasons Your Customers Hate You

The relationship started out as a mutually beneficial romance, but now your client isn't feeling the love. Here's how to avoid a costly separation

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You can still remember those early meetings. Like smitten teenagers, you instantly clicked. You talked for hours, swapping stories and sharing dreams. Suddenly you felt energized, open to new possibilities, connected to something larger. So you imagined building your businesses together. And you thought to yourselves: Finally, someone understands me.

Now, your partner dreads taking your call. As time passed, you became strangers. That initial thrill faded as your paths diverged. Complacency soon followed. And the setbacks bred regret and suspicion. These days, you're locked in a marriage of convenience. To your partner, you're an expensive reminder of how quickly relationships can sour.

Too often, we forget that closing the business is the easy part. In reality, it's the messy job of nurturing relationships—caring, consistency, collaboration, and communication—that separates organizations. Want to keep your relationships profitable and civil over the long term? Avoid lapsing into these eight faults:

1) Not Responsive: You take self-service to a new level. Your IVR is a Kafkaesque maze with every passage leading to voicemail. When customers finally reach a live person, it's a clueless underling who can never find the decision makers. Since the sale, you've almost disappeared. It takes days to get their calls and e-mails returned; something always pops up and takes precedence. The courtship is truly over.

Often it's not the arguments that bury relationships; it's the silence and the doubts stoked when partners feel ignored and disrespected. Eventually customers tire of waiting and never being a priority. When you shook hands, you made an implicit agreement: We will be there. They lived up to their end when payment cleared. Now it's your turn.

2) Don't Solve Problems: The solution is down (again). But they're afraid to call you. Maybe you made excuses or pointed fingers in the past. Or you refused to apologize or meet them face to face. You may have even pushed fixes off to another day, urging them to "work around the problems." No, you never do what you say you will. You juke and jive, then cut and run. So much for "underpromise and overdeliver."

As owners and managers, we rarely see ourselves as a risk. In reality, we're a leap of faith to our customers. In any joint venture, they have so much to fear: embarrassment, betrayal, failure, and starting over. But you earned their trust because they believed you understood and genuinely cared about their interests. To protect your customers, follow the basics: Draft plans, set expectations, communicate frequently, and always follow through. Mistakes will happen, but your dependability can never be a question mark.

3) Inflexible: Ah, nothing is ever easy with you. Your paperwork would make a bureaucrat blush. When something goes wrong, you're all too quick to point out the fine print. Whether it's pricing or terms, it's always your way, with no alternatives or room for debate. No interaction with you is ever fun; you wear your bottom line for all to see.

Customers get tired of jumping through hoops and always hearing "no." These days, they have more options than ever—but they're also stretched thin and run ragged. Capitalize on this reality by becoming the least-hassle partner. Look at the world through their eyes, keeping everything simple and pertinent. Handle all their arrangements yourself, so they need only show up. Be willing to custom-design your solution to their unique situation. Most important, listen to their feedback and act on it. True partners supply more than goods and services; they also act as a refuge, safety net, and confidant.

4) Too Many Unexpecteds: It's one surprise after another. Since they've made the commitment, they've seen a different side of you. Suddenly there are unexpected snags, delays, and costs, and key tasks always seem to fall through the cracks. The terms are in flux; they're nickeled and dimed at every turn.