I just looked at her, one of my beloved clients, holding up an image I'd never seen expectantly. I had agonized for hours over picture choices for her mock-up, analyzing for content, contrast, color depth. Then I had painstakingly perfected each image, color-correcting, sharpening, cloning. This was a -deck store- for Pete's sake. And now she didn't want a deck on cover. After four meetings going over content, she now wanted flowers and gazebos. They don't SELL flowers. Or gazebos. Mildly, I pointed this out. She didn't notice purple of apoplexy tinging my cheeks. After a short internal debate, she admitted that she had overlooked that small fact, and agreed that a pretty deck might serve her purpose better. It was, after all, a deck store brochure. Amazing.

Although most business owners say customer is always right, they each have their own list of clauses to protect themselves-- as well they should. If a customer requires something unreasonable from you, you have right to refuse them, even if your refusal sparks their antagonism.

It is much easier to deal with this type of customer in a big city environment. Amid throng of people, you can console yourself with knowledge that, if you do incite wrath of a customer, you will probably never see them again.

When you operate a business or provide a service in a small town, dealing with unhappy customers is a much more delicate procedure. Especially when you have to sit two pews away from them in church next day.

Business owners in rural communities are denied option of washing their hands of antagonistic customers. Letting a customer leave angry and unsatisfied virtually guarantees gossip. And in a small town, bad news travels faster. It can sweep through community in less than a week, wiping out your customers as effectively as galloping consumption.

The key is to douse an unsatisfied customer's rage before it really starts to burn. Most customers won't enter scene in a huff. When they become really unpleasant is when they don't get kind of service and understanding they want.

Over years, my friend Bill, a small town furniture store owner, has had to become an expert in art of angry customer prevention.

One of difficult situations Bill has to deal with often is return of electronics that were sold to smokers. Many people buy things from Bill that, a month later, they decide they can't afford. The problem is that cigarette smoke reeks havoc on electronics after a short period of time. Not only does smoke cause mechanical problems, but every time TV is turned on, it exudes smell of cigarette smoke.