Q: How do you know when it’s time to drop certain shoeing clients?

—Colorado farrier 

A: I will let go of clients if they don’t pay their bills, or if their checks bounce. Sometimes we don’t have to drop them, though. We’ll talk it over with them and put them on a credit card payment plan that works for them and us.

Another problem is a client who keeps complaining whenever our inventory expenses go up. When we pass along those costs, some clients keep saying they can’t afford the higher prices. We let those clients go because they’re just falling out of the range of what we charge.

We also drop clients if they repeatedly disrupt the scheduling. We make appointments in advance, and if they keep backing out of appointments, that causes real problems for our business. Some clients will just keep saying they’ll call us back when we try to confirm appointments.

Another thing is horses with bad attitudes. If the customer’s horse is always bad to work on, that’s a dangerous situation. I’ve got eight full-time farriers in my business, and I’ve got to think about their safety.

We also look at the area where the horses have to be worked on. If the area isn’t sheltered or it’s not flat or lighted, then we can’t do the job properly, the way we expect to be able to do it. With these customers, we’ll suggest they bring the horse to our shoeing shop or that they…