A customer recently asked me for a discount after a large project And I thought I was about to learn a very expensive lesson We had originally allowed roughly 14 days for the work but pushed hard and completed it in 6 There were a few items the customer expected to be completed that ultimately werent During the job we identified underground services that turned what looked like a straightforward piece of work into something carrying significantly more risk We made the decision not to proceed with those parts After the job the customer raised it and asked whether the price should be reduced I actually thought his question was fair So instead of getting defensive I went back through the entire project what we completed what changed why certain decisions were made the additional costs we absorbed nd the fact that wed dramatically reduced the amount of time his site was disrupted I explained all of that and still offered a $5,000 reduction as a gesture of good faith Then I got his reply I genuinely didnt know whether I was about to have a payment dispute on my hands Instead he declined the discount He said he was extremely happy with the final result And asked us to look at another project for him It was a good reminder for me When a customer pushes back its very easy to treat it like a fight you need to win Sometimes the better move is to acknowledge the concern explain your decisions clearly and give the customer enough information to make their own judgement I was prepared to lose $5,000 to protect the relationship in the end he decided I didnt need to Has anyone else had a customer complaint or price negotiation actually strengthen the relationship?   submitted by   /u/divvychugsbeer [link]   [comments]