Business 101 : Get rid of Clients

C O N F E S S I O N:  I sometimes hate to even post something like this article…scared of the reality of what others might think or say…

Are you questioning if you just read the headline correctly?

You did.

It’s pretty simple sometimes the best business advice is to get rid of clients.

This is one of the first and honestly hardest lessons my business coach “coached” me on.

It seemed my questions continually circled back around to dealing with clients that were draining me.  Draining me not only of my valuable time, but my energy.

You might be able to relate.  Maybe you can’t.  If you can’t you might as well close out and not waste your time reading.  Yet I would probably say…buckle up because it’s bound to happen one day or another in business.

But.  Before you jump to any conclusions…there is more to this than meets the eye.  This was not the “norm” for me.  Let me explain.  My clients as a whole have  been and are amazing.  On an average this client that I “needed to get rid of” happened about once a year.  Not shabby at all.  Yet it still was happening more than I desired, as I wanted all of my clients to be happy, yet from time to time they weren’t.  I found that if I couldn’t deliver…then quite possibly we weren’t a match.

As my business began to grow and see changes, it was scary at times. Lets face it change isn’t always easy, nor is it always fun.

In essence what my business coach was telling me is this….

[Beginning tidbits of our conversation…as I mainly listened.]

My coach began-

These clients don’t value you or your work.  If your clients don’t value your work, are you?

As we progressed it was then asked – “What is your ideal client/audience?”.  Now write it down.

So I did.  I mulled over it for several days maybe a couple of weeks.  What I was finding is those who were not my ideal client were indeed draining me in time and energy.  This time and energy couldn’t be replaced…or gotten back.  Simply put…now I didn’t have that time/energy to give to my ideal client.  This I saw was NOT good.

Then he said–Now begin to sift them and transition them away from your business.

In my mind I was asking…how?  that’s horrible…

No it’s not horrible- the fact of the matter is, what’s horrible is you don’t even value your time and energy.  These were some hard things for me to swallow.

It was truth.

So get rid of those clients that don’t value you either and you begin to place value on your time and energy.

As I did just this my thoughts and attitudes changed.  My business grew…my clients grew…and my clients changed.  Yes I dropped those that didn’t value my work and time.  How did I do that?

Over time my business model changed… that is –the amazing ideal client that I love to spend time on…spend energy with…spend energy on.  My business changed.  It changed for the GOOD.  I valued my work and my time.  So did my clients.

Let me clarify even more…(as I’m scared my clients will begin to get a complex that I’m talking about them, and I’m not!!!)  What’s the old adage – ” There’s a bad apple in every bunch”  This isn’t a new concept.  It’s been around for years.  Does it mean that this said client is…bad, ugly and mean, not considerate, not acting appropriately.  NO. It means they aren’t valuing my time.  These clients are indeed wonderful people…simply put they just aren’t the best fit for my business model.

If they aren’t the best fit, they need to find their “best fit” and I do too.

Are you in need of getting rid of clients? or are you too scared and will allow the wrong clients to continue to drain your energy, time and resources?