Surely you did get some payment at the start and they have paid in full to you before they are using the system??? You should never be installing a system at a customer site unless you got full payment.
Survival is getting paid for the work you do. You tell them they can go elsewhere - regardless of what they say or who they say they know, they don’t. I dealt with this type of customer before, once you let them know clearly this is your standpoint, they actually respect you more and will pay you. It is all a game of power for them. I have some clients in UAE who are like this also, and it’s very simple, you want, you pay.
They tell you to take your system and go, well if they paid you already, who cares? Let them go, spend your time and effort to get other customers who are not like this. I have customers before who I did a whole setup for then they don’t use it because they have silly requirements that are impossible to implement within their budget. I just let them go their own way, it is not my problem anymore I got paid for the setup and I provided what I quoted.
, I can runaway like that but the problem it will effect my company reputation. See I am working Bahrain , its a very small country within 2 hr itself we can cover the whole country by car. Most of the arab customers are relatives to each other and they will double check with others about the services.
I can surely do the things in the way u said. But lot of companies are there who does the system lesser amount and cheap devices than me and they just run away after the work. But customers are okay with my pricing because of our service. And most of the works that am getting right now because of the previous customers.
I did not say runaway. I said have clear expectations and if they do not want to pay for additional work, then they don’t get it. So if word of mouth is important to you, what do you want them to be saying? “Buy from this guy, he will do anything for you and never charge you more. I got a whole system with hours of customisation from him for $(low amount)”. So if you build a good relationship with your client and they have clear expectations on what you will give for what they paid, and if they expect more you tell it like it is, I am sure they will respect you more.
You also should have your support structure in place so customers are paying you ongoing for support, I don’t know how it works in your country but should be getting something each month or every year. And, you clearly define what is covered by support - so it’s not unlimited customisations and new features. I really believe, no matter where you are, if you give clear expectations to your customers, you will not have problems when they want more.
In the UK, where I am located, we have many competitors, it is a very competitive market and there are many who charge much less than us (and many who charge much more). You can’t worry much about those who charge less, as its like you say, they don’t care and they take the money and run.