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Arguing with customers can be hazardous to your profitability! Now, before you assume that I mean that we should give every customer what he or she wants, let me have a little room to explain.

When customers disagree with you or contest a particular activity there is often wasted energy trying to persuade them to see things as you see them. In some cases, the customer leaves dissatisfied, perhaps even angry, that you would argue with him rather than simply do as he wished.

Is the customer always right? Of course not! In any situation that a customer challenges a procedure or technique that would jeopardize the safety of people, building, etc., you may have an ethical right to push back. Here's an example.

A project manager for a client of mine was asked by a potential customer to build an outdoor pool and spa in the middle of a ravine behind their home. Realizing that the ravine was formed due to natural water flow patterns, our project manager informed the customer that the site was not recommended. The customer persisted stating that water had not flowed through this ravine in the three years he had lived in the home and that he wanted his "outdoor water world" built where he wanted.

Our project manager also knew of other potential restrictions that the local city engineers would have with such a choice. The customer would still not hear of it and informed us that we would not get his business due to our inability to meet his desire and need. Brief update: the man never did find a pool company to put a pool in this ravine so began to build one there himself…only to be stopped cold by the city!