It’s the hidden admin drain that kills you—the invisible margin bleed you never see just looking at an invoice.
Had a customer like this a while back. Looked great on paper, but every visit took three pre-calls from the office, special arrival windows, and a 20-minute walk-through after the job because they wanted to inspect every square inch with the lead tech. By the time you factor in the extra tech hours, dispatch headaches, and crew frustration, we were practically paying to work there.
Now we either price the friction or protect the schedule.
If an account needs high-touch hand-holding, that extra time gets built right into the line items. If they’re willing to pay for it, fine—at least it’s budgeted. But if they refuse to follow our standard process or constantly demand one-off exceptions, we let them know our operational model changed and refer them out.
Dropping one high-maintenance account almost always opens up room for two solid, hassle-free customers who respect your team and your process. Protect your capacity and your crew's sanity.
