My own customer, call him Bill and who may well read this, called me up yesterday. As a business coach, how can I help him handle his own client, who I will label as Ben.

The story is as follows. Bill was asked to deliver specific services at an agreed hourly rate. Unfortunately, something went wrong and the work took much longer than expected. When asked to pay up, Ben turned to Bill, my customer, and explained forcefully:’ I will pay, according to what I think the work deserves, and this will be the basis for all future services carried out. This is how I do business’. And apparently Ben can claim his fair shares of successes in commerce.

Bill asked me what he should do? After all, he feels responsible for any previous delays and wants to keep on with the contract.

I asked Bill if Ben had ever let any of his own customers pay according to how they had valued his own products and services deserved. The answer was clearly negative.

And that is the point. What Ben was trying to do was blame Bill for everything that had gone wrong, even though much of the responsibility probably lay elsewhere. He was then being not just aggressive, but also manipulative.

To be slightly sarcastic, what Bill could have done is to have offered to take Ben out for a meal, arriving by taxi, stating in advance that the event may not cost them a dime. After all, they would only pay for the taxi if the driver was to take the best route, whatever that meant. And they would only pay for the meal if it will end being tasty and satisfying, however that can be measured.

Bill also has to remember one final issue. He still wants to be paid in full. He also sees the lure of future work with Ben, and so does not want to alienate him. However, Bill must also be prepared to walk away from the Ben, if the situation appears irreconcilable. Difficult, but sometimes you need to find the right way to tell a customer that ‘he is wrong’.