Its okay really. You can fire your clients.

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Its okay really. You can fire your clients.

Written by: Marc Krisjanous | Posted on 08 September 2009. Tags: business efficiency, business mindset, client management, Leadership

Lets be honest with each other.

We all have nightmare clients that demand too much, are rude and generally a real pain to deal with – but have you actually calculated how much these clients cost your business?

We did and found out that some of our most annoying clients were costing us more than what we earned from them.

Tim Ferris strongly suggested in his book “The 4 Hour Work Week” to fire any client that is making you and your staff life’s a living hell.

I completely agree with him.

You may not even realize that a rude and abrasive client can not only upset your staff but also cost your business in real dollar terms.

Like most businesses, on the whole, our clients are very happy with our services and our staff. Most clients are happy to provide references to that fact.

It is unusual for our sales team to sign-on a client that causes us issues but we do from time-to-time.

There are of course a few warning signs that a client will be a nightmare – some signs are:

Not returning calls or emails regarding payment or support queries.
Try to dictate how they deal with your business and ignore the rules and processes you have in place to make your business efficient so you can provide a quality product/service.
They have a demanding tone or sarcastic demeanor.
They use CAPS when TALKING TO YOU and DEMAND that you FIX something NOW!!!!!!
They refuse to pay for services that you provided in good faith.
They are never satisfied with your efforts to keep them happy.

You need to ask yourself if this client is adding value to your business or reducing it. If the cost of supporting this client is more than the dollars you get from the client then fire the client!

If you cannot let go because you are scared the client will start spreading negative comments comfort yourself in knowing that clients of this type have already been bagging you even when you were trying to keep them happy – its who they are – nothing to do with you.

I can promise you that after a couple of days after firing a client you will start to regain your happiness and move on and focus on the clients that think you are the best.

Of course on the flip side – if you have more complaining clients than happy ones then you should look at your offerings and service to see if there is something you need to improve.

At the end of the day you started your own business to improve your lifestyle and be in control. Having a client that causes you and your staff stress and money is really taking you back to the days of employment when you had no real control.

Is that where you want to be?

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This post was written by:

Marc Krisjanous - who has written 32 posts on Business Blogs.

This blog is to share my thoughts and opinion on running small businesses. For over 6 years I have experienced the joy, heartache and sleepless nights that all business owners experience.

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14538 Responses2009-09-08+09%3A23%3A26Marc+Krisjanous to “Its okay really. You can fire your clients.”

Aimee says:

September 11, 2009 at 10:13 am

Hi Marc,

Great article, this is certainly something that we find that our clients struggle with (and sometimes us to).

This can sometimes be seen as a kind of taboo subject “Gosh you mean you are actually actively getting rid of customers?” But you are right sometimes they just aren’t worth it.

A business is all about balance and yourself and your team need to be happy, if there are clients that are causing major issues then it is perfectly valid to take a look at those and decide whether or not they are worth it.

Thanks for drawing this to attention.

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Marc says:

September 12, 2009 at 1:18 pm

Thanks Aimee! Great comments

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Jo Couchman says:

October 4, 2009 at 3:08 pm

Any thoughts on how to do it diplomatically?

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Marc says:

October 4, 2009 at 5:17 pm

One way I have found is to raise the prices on your products and/or services to a level where the client decides to go elsewhere. That puts the decision to leave in their hands. If they stay then maybe the new amount of $$ can cover the high-maintenance client.

Or just be frank with the client. Send an email documenting the occasions where the client has caused issues and state that you just don’t have the time to provide the level of service the client demands.

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Kay says:

October 23, 2009 at 7:01 am

Thank you so much. Every single warning you sign you mentioned is what I’m facing with a current client. I have done everything in my power to keep them happy and they YELL on email, don’t return emails, get offended when you ask to be paid on time, and send rude emails.

You’re right. I started my business to be in charge, while accommodating clients. Not to be bullied by them. Thanks again. I’ll fire my client today. K.

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Marc says:

October 23, 2009 at 7:13 am

Hello Kay,

Good on you!

lots of people will say its your fault and that you don’t understand the clients needs or that your product/service is causing the issues.

But after nearly 6 years of running my own businesses with many happy clients I can clearly state that there are some clients that are just not worth the effort. Some are businesses that are failing and they take their frustration out on their service providers. Some just don’t care.

You will feel a million times better once you get rid of the client.

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Keith says:

December 5, 2009 at 8:49 am

A link to this article popped into my twitter window last night, and it felt like fate.

We have over 2,000 tradepeople registered with us, and most are great. There have been three cases where we have canceled membership as we have uncovered concerns during screening. However, they were simple, as it was black and white. Where it gets more complicated is where a customer used to be great, but has changed.

Yesterday our team had been debating all day how to deal with one tradesman who has done a lot of work with us, and been with us since the early days. In the early days the quality and work, and reviews received were great. But recently he has accounted for over 80% of the negative feedback we have received in the last 3 months. As our business relies on end users (homeowners) having a great experience, we have spent a huge amount of time trying to get this guy to change his ways. However, when I look at how much time we spend on this one customer, the opportunity cost of being distracted from building the business is huge.

I found the article reassuring, as what held me back from “firing” him was the concern he would spread bad things about our company to other tradesmen. However, reading the article reinforced that he is probably doing that now. Thus I have taken action.

Thanks for the guidance.

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Christina says:

January 25, 2010 at 3:47 am

This happens and it happened to me before, I can really relate to it. I have a small business and I should say I’m still building up list of clients but then, I’m not really sure if I did it right back then but I actually refused to do business with one of the known companies who owns several franchise automotive repair shops. It was a supposedly a breakthrough to have them but then, a couple of things mentioned in your article made me decide not to accept the offer. It made me feel good actually, yes they are a big company quite popular but I’m not comfortable working with them, specifically the marketing manager. Your article is a confirmation that I did the right thing.

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