Oyun you reach Phase III and have some cash flow, it’s time to re-evaluate your customers and thin the herd. There are good and bad versions of all things: good food, bad food; good movies, bad movies; good sex, bad sex; and, yes, good customers and bad customers. Decide now to do business with the former and avoid the latter. I recommend looking at the customer as an equal trading partner and not as an infallible blessing of a human being to be pleased at all costs. If you offer an excellent product at an acceptable price, it is an equal trade and not a begging session between subordinate (you) and superior (customer). Be professional but never kowtow to unreasonable people. Instead of dealing with problem customers, I recommend you prevent them from ordering in the first place. I know dozens of NR who don’t accept Western Union or checks as payment. Some would respond to this with, “You’re giving up 10-15% of your sales!” The NR, in turn, would say, “I am, but I’m also avoiding the 10-15% of the customers who create 40% of the expenses and eat 40% of my time.” It’s classic 80/20. Those who spend the least and ask for the most before ordering will do the same after the sale. Cutting them out is both a good lifestyle decision and a good financial decision. Low-profit and high- maintenance customers like to call operators and spend up to 30 minutes on the phone asking questions that are unimportant or answered online, costing—in my case—$24.90 (30 x $0.83) per 30-minute incident, eliminating the minuscule profit they contribute in the first place. Those who spend the most complain the least. In addition to our premium $50—200 pricing, here are a few additional policies that attract the high-profit and low-maintenance customers we want: 1. Do not accept payment via Western Union, checks, or money order. 2. Raise wholesale minimums to 12-100 units and require a tax ID number to qualify resellers who are real businesspeople and not time-intensive novices. Don’t r