Problem customers / clients

There are 2 schools of thought on customers:

1. Customer is always right.
2. Fire problem customers.

I think both are probably right to some degree. Don't follow a rule of thumb religiously, but apply common sense based on where you are in the startup cycle.

I tend to look at where I am headed with an idea. If the customer's complaint fits into this roadmap or makes sense I will accelerate development in that area.

The hard part is separating out people who are legitimately frustrated with a poor implementation from people that are frustrated with their existence on this planet.

It really hit home to me when running a previous company. I would walk to work early (4 AM ) so I could get some programming done. One morning, I see someone else's shadow in the window talking on the phone. I think it might be someone calling their girlfriend in Russia, so I quietly slipped into the office to see what they are up to. Instead, it is an employee calling up the customer service departments of random companies and complaining about products he has never purchased.

That is when it hit me, not all customers are right even some of the time. So again it is using common sense. When I encounter a user that is of this kind, I flee the scene as quickly as possible. Give them their money back and hope they latch on to my competitor and waste as much of their time as possible.

Not always easy to tell the two types apart, but that is why you have to use your brain in this startup game.