How To Know When To Fire A Client Or Customer, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
How To Know When To Fire A Client Or Customer, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
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
How To Know When To Fire A Client Or Customer According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach - To learn more about this author, visit Glenn Ebersole's Website.
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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
How To Know When To Fire A Client Or Customer According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach - To learn more about this author, visit Glenn Ebersole's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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