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Owned by Jamie

Seller Success Academy

2 members • Free

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1 contribution to Lovable AI
Discovered my biggest customer has been sharing their login with 14 people at their company. Do I say something?
My product has per-seat pricing. $29/user/month. My biggest customer pays for 3 seats. $87/month. They've been with me for 11 months. Great relationship. Use the product heavily. Yesterday I was checking usage analytics and noticed something weird. Their account had usage from 14 distinct IP addresses in the last month. Different cities. Usage patterns that don't make sense for 3 people. They're sharing one login across their whole team. By my pricing, they should be paying for 14 seats. $406/month. They're paying $87. That's $319/month I'm losing. $3,828/year from a single customer. But here's my dilemma: They're my biggest customer by usage. They genuinely love the product. They've referred 2 other companies to me. If I enforce the seat policy, they might churn entirely. I'd lose $87/month plus their goodwill plus future referrals. If I don't enforce it, I'm subsidizing a customer who's technically violating terms. And if other customers find out, why would they pay full price? Options I'm considering: Say nothing and hope they eventually upgrade voluntarily. (Unlikely but avoids conflict.) Reach out diplomatically. "Hey noticed some unusual login patterns, want to make sure security is good. Also here's a team plan that might fit better." Give them a path to compliance. Enforce strictly. "Our records show X users, please upgrade or we'll need to restrict to licensed seats." Might lose them entirely. Grandfather them at current rate but lock it in. "Your price stays the same but we're implementing device verification going forward." I genuinely don't know the right move here. The money matters but the relationship also matters. How would you handle this?
1 like • 1d
I don’t know you or your client, so I’m just going off the context you shared. Here’s the real question you want to ask yourself. Do you want to win big, or do you want to win small? No one client should never represent anymore than 20% of your income max. I get the vibe that this client exceeds that. When I hear about situations like this, I cringe at the thought of how some business owners sacrifice their values in exchange for the mighty dollar. Yes, I understand and agree that there is tremendous value in them referring you, glowing testimonials, and other intangibles. At some point, every business owner will need to step into their power. The alternative is to stay silent or suppress one’s self to keep the peace (or the scraps). I commend you for even posing the question publicly, or at least in this community. You already did the math, and found that you’re only earning 1/4 of what your solution is worth. No amount of profit alone justifies someone taking advantage of you. Now, if they have referred you business, then you can place a value on that. But even if they did, that’s not worth a 75% discount unless they were bringing you thousands of dollars of new pipeline - regularly and consistently. For all you know, those referrals may have also learned from your client that they too can abuse your app. If that were true, that means you’re losing even more money. My point is this. This event, moment, decision, or whatever you want to call it, can shape and alter your trajectory in your entrepreneurial journey. Have you ever heard the saying, “How you do one thing, is how you do everything?” Yeah, it’s kind of like that. These types of events are what separate the good from the great. If you want to become great, you’ve got to do hard things. Do hard things, and eventually life will get easier. Do easy things (such as choosing to let the client slide) and life will get tougher. I don’t know where you’re at on your business journey, but I’m 30 years in. I’ve won big, but also have played small. It’s part of the learning journey, but the earlier you learn the rules of the game, the better your chances for long-term, sustainable, and most importantly, profitable success.
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Jamie Miralles
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4points to level up
@jamie-miralles-4794
Helping Solopreneurs & Agencies Build Durable, Self-Scaling & Profitable Businesses | 28+ Years of E-Commerce Experience | Click on Website Link Below

Active 11h ago
Joined Dec 3, 2025
INTJ
Scottsdale, Arizona