Let go, Let God

Kenny Rogers sang a song about knowing when to hold them, know when to fold them.

We love our customers and we hold on to them tightly, we advocate for them, and we protect them whenever and wherever possible.

Sadly, however, eventually you’ll run into that toxic customer who is truly that one bad apple….and before they spoil the whole bunch, you need to say no and fold them.

Truthfully, it’s the hardest lesson to learn. Losing ANY customer causes me pain and finding that someone is toxic is even worse.

We had one not long ago. Just a miserable person at every level, but we felt that we could help the company save money, so we worked extra hard believing all along that in the end, he would thank us for going the extra mile.

Boy was I wrong.

No matter what we did, how hard we worked, he was just mean and nasty. Crazier than that, he was literally leading a band of employee’s that had learned to be just as mean.

Toxic is the only word I could think of.

What I discovered is this. First, the time we invested in this toxic relationship took time away from those that weren’t….not a good investment.

Second, since every single thing we discussed got turned on it’s head, the frustration level was reaching deep into my soul. I’m not used to those kinds of relationships, and I just fought like crazy to tame the beast……and it just kept getting worse.

In the end, for my own sanity, and for the good of the wonderful people who truly appreciate what we do for them, I had to say enough is enough.

I felt terrible, I anguished over it, but the reality is that I’m far better off without that kind of noise in my life.

The truly insane part is, even if I’d held on and worked even harder, it would have ended badly and caused a reputation rift that none of us ever wants.

When it’s time to fold them, trust me, you’ll know.

Take a deep breath, let go, and let God!