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How To Know When To Fire A Client Or Customer, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Written by: Glenn Ebersole

Article Overview: One of the things business owners dread most is firing an employee. Well, there is another dread of business owners that is similar to that and it is the firing of a client or customer. The issue of firing a client or customer, or in other words ”letting go of a client or customer, is a real issue faced by all business owners. And I know from first hand experience that this is true. In my 25 years of business, I have “fired” clients and I have learned the strategic value of doing so. I have realized that not every client is the right or ideal client for me and that I have tried to become much more strategic in prospecting for and selecting my clients. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach has developed a list of twelve (12) signals that will let you know that it is time to fire the client or customer and they are:

How To Know When To Fire A Client Or Customer, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

One of the things that business owners dread most is the task of firing an employee. Well, there is another dread of business owners that is similar to that and it is the firing of a client or customer. The issue of firing a client or customer, or in other words ”letting go of a client or customer, is a real issue faced by all business owners. And I know from first hand experience that this is true. In my 25 years of business, I have “fired” clients and I have learned the strategic value of doing so. In those 25 years of business, I have realized that not every client is the right or ideal client for me and that I have tried to become much more strategic in prospecting for and selecting my clients.

In my business coaching I often ask my clients, “What are you pretending not to know?” when it comes to discussing clients or customers that they should fire. I listen to story after story of how some of their clients or customers take up so much time and energy and they feel drained in serving these clients or customers. They tell me they are losing their enthusiasm for their business and that they are not taking time to market their business, as they should. They share with me how angry and resentful they have become and they even begin wondering why they are in business. So after listening and hearing them, I ask them again, “What are you pretending not to know?”

While ending a business relationship may be painful and not easy to do, the alternative of continuing this dysfunctional business relationship is not healthy at all. I coach my clients through these situations and can verify that after my clients commit to and then fire their dysfunctional client or customer, there is relief, peace and personal satisfaction about what they did. I encourage my clients to develop the profile of their ideal client or customer and to use that as a filter for all their prospective clients or customers in the future. This will diminish the probability of doing business with a client or customer you will later have to fire.

Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach has developed a list of twelve (12) signals that will let you know that it is time to fire the client or customer and they are:

1. You avoid contact with the client. You avoid taking phone calls or meeting with the client because you know it will make you angry or upset.

2. Every invoice you submit is questioned in fine detail by your client, even though all billed items are legitimate and documented.

3. Your client never pays his or her invoice on time and always has a complaint when you call to ask about a past due invoice.

4. Your client is always operating in crisis or emergency mode and is constantly requesting unrealistic response times from you and always waiting until the last minute to provide needed information and decisions to you.

5/ Your client has no respect for your time and is habitually late for meetings, cancels meetings at the last minute or without notice, and/or forgets about meetings you have scheduled with the client.

6. Your client is micromanaging and is an impediment to solving problems and resolving issues.

7. Your client only works “in the business” and not “on the business” and they refuse to let go of things and delegate to their team members.

8. Your client exhibits aggressive and abusive behavior. No one needs to be tolerant of this behavior.

9. Your client always wants you to reduce your fee, give additional services at no extra cost, and/or produces little or no net profit.

10. Your client is a chronic complainer and/or overly demanding. This is a no-win situation.

11. Your client acts unethically. Ethics are non-negotiable.

12. Your client deliberately lies or misleads you. Once the trust is broken, it is over.

Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach encourages you to fully realize the benefits of business coaching to strategically and effectively identify and market to your ideal clients and customers and to know the signals that tell you when to fire your client or customer. If you would like to learn more about how a strategic thinking business coach can facilitate and guide you in that endeavor, please contact Glenn Ebersole today through his website at www.businesscoach4u.com or by email at jgecoach@aol.com

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Article Tags: business coaching, business owners, business relationship



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