Sometimes the hardest things to do are the best decisions for our business (and our sanity) in the long run. One of the toughest things is firing a bad client because saying no to business seems counter-intuitive when you are trying to build a business.
Perhaps it’s some twisted loyalty to a longtime supporter, or maybe it’s the fear that you won’t be able to replace the bad client that’s holding you back. Whatever it is, if you want your business to grow, you need to get picky about which clients you work with and that means firing the bad ones.
What Makes a Bad Client So Bad?
There’s not a definitive checklist for determining which clients are bad clients. A bad client for you may be a dream client for someone else. The best way to decide if a client is a bad client is if that client doesn’t fit with your business (and lifestyle) goals.
For example, a bad client may be one who constantly needs last-minute projects done over the weekend when you consider that time to be sacred family-only time. That same client may be a dream client for a part-time entrepreneur who only wants to work on the weekends when a spouse is available to take over parenting duties.
The best way to know if a client is a bad client is by the signs and symptoms. If working with that client is stressful, requires additional time spent to ‘manage’ them, or if they are always asking you to bend your rules for them, chances are you have a bad client who needs to be let go.
Why Firing a Bad Client is the Best Decision
#1: Mental Drain – Call Display is an excellent tool for determining if you are working with a bad client. If seeing a call from that client fills you with dread and you need to contemplate whether or not to answer, that client is going to be a mental drain.
#2: Low Profitability – Bad clients tend to take up more customer service time and demand special treatment (aka lower pricing). That means that on top of everything else, bad clients are far less profitable.
#3: Barrier to Opportunity – How are you going to pursue working with your dream clients if you are constantly fighting fires ignited by your bad clients? Imagine if you reinvested that time in exploring new opportunities.
#4: Negative Loop – Working with bad clients starts a negative referral loop. Because you dread working with them, you tend to put their project to the bottom of the pile and skip the extra touches. That costs you in the form of lost referrals from a client who is satisfied, but not delighted with your service.
#5: Boundary Pushing – Let’s face it – it’s the bad clients who really make our lives as entrepreneurs just plain suck. Why? Because they have absolutely no respect for our boundaries and push the limits of our patience every chance they get!
If any of your clients fit the above description, it’s time to trust your gut instincts and let them go. Sometimes you can get tough with your boundaries and strictly enforce the rules to solve the problem, but if after trying that approach, the bad client still chooses to misbehave, it’s time to move on.
12 Comments
You are so on target with this one and the funny thing is you can go along in your business then wham, you accidently let one through (bad client). The worst thing I have seen and even done myself was to try and take on the mindset – I need to find way to serve them better – can you say lost cause.
It caused me to write this recent post at 12 Most. Have you seen that blog with Sean McGinnis and Daniel Newman? http://12most.com/2011/07/21/12-compelling-reasons-turned-business/
Wow, great post! I have only had to do this once and I stalled the decision over and over again thinking that things would change even after a addressing things with the client. I always like to give people the benefit of the doubt. But after putting up with confusion and verbal abuse over a 2 week period, I finally made the decision to let the client know that I would no longer work with them because of how they had been treating me. I was devastated because I am a nice person and aim to please. Not being able to do so in this case really taught me a valuable lesson in my business – that you just cannot please everyone and that some people are just NOT NICE.
It brings me a lot of freedom to know that I have the choice of WHO I work with and that I can have the confidence in myself and my work and put my foot down when I am not being treated properly.
Thanks again for the great post.
I have not been able to share my feelings on this matter and it feels good to finally get it out.
DAWN
Wow, great post! I have only had to do this once and I stalled the decision over and over again thinking that things would change even after a addressing things with the client. I always like to give people the benefit of the doubt. But after putting up with confusion and verbal abuse over a 2 week period, I finally made the decision to let the client know that I would no longer work with them because of how they had been treating me. I was devastated because I am a nice person and aim to please. Not being able to do so in this case really taught me a valuable lesson in my business – that you just cannot please everyone and that some people are just NOT NICE.
It brings me a lot of freedom to know that I have the choice of WHO I work with and that I can have the confidence in myself and my work and put my foot down when I am not being treated properly.
Thanks again for the great post.
I have not been able to share my feelings on this matter and it feels good to finally get it out.
DAWN
Sorry my last comment I was signed in under a client account – can you please erase?
It’s so hard to just buckle down and do this sometimes. As Dawn writes, “I aim to please.” What service-based small company or freelancer doesn’t aim to please?
But there are clients who won’t be pleased, even when you can and do bend over backwards to try and win their approval, happiness, referrals and business. The opportunity cost is too high to sustain, every time, no matter how much you hold out for a change–in attitude, price or stress!
Hi Carla
This is an excellent post, and one that I can relate to. When you get to the point of when your clients email hits your inbox, you give a huge sigh, you feel dread in the pit of your stomach and you have to leave your office to make a coffee before you can actually bear to even open their email, that is the time to say goodbye.
I have done this on 2 occasions. My life was being made a complete misery and I had to do something.
You just have to be brave and take that step to ending their contract. Once you have done it, your life will be much simpler and completely stress free. Your business will become stronger as you become more focused.
Sounds like we worked for the same client! The rules of decency do not stop at a clients door. In my experience once things get out of hand some people would rather be right no matter how irrational they need to be to get there. In the end it’s the business owner that looses.
Hi,
Thanks for the information. This is a very useful and informative post for all the freelancers out there and I am sure all those who read it will be highly benefited in their work.
🙂
_________
freelance seo
Brilliant observations – I fired 3 ‘bad’ clients (they weren’t bad, just bad for me) this year and the relief was palpable!
Carla:
Spot on. Been, there, done that, bought the T-Shirt a couple of times. The incredible sense of relief and freedom is just so soul-restoring–even if you have to say “Now how am I going to pay the bills?”
I’ve often said that one of the greatest benefits of working for yourself is that YOU get to CHOOSE who to work with. Life is way too short to have to put up with clients like that.
@Martha — I know exactly how you feel. I have an ex-client who elicited the exact same response when the emails or the phone calls came in.
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Oh yes. You speak truth.
Great article! I have had a few of those clients. Early on in my business, I felt I had to do business with them because I needed the money, but I soon realized that all business is not good business. I have had to fire a few clients and I wasn’t very comfortable doing this at first and honestly, I didn’t really know how to do it and it seemed like they just kept coming back again and again. i actually resorted to giving one client an over the top quote. I figured that would make him go away and if it didn’t, at least I’ll get paid for all the trouble he’s going to put me through. Lol! It actually worked, I never heard back from him. Although I wouldn’t suggest you use my approach, I would suggest that you set your boundaries up front.