By Tina Hilton of Clerical Advantage 

I know, it’s a rare occasion that I post more than once a week here at HOW.  But every once in awhile, I feel compelled to do so.  You see, I just had one of the ‘a ha’ moments.  One of those moments in time when you see, hear or do something that makes a sudden connection in your brain. I’ve just begun to read, or rather listen to the audiobook, Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port.  I bought and downloaded it yesterday after reading a glowing review over at the Virtual Assistant Forums.  I’m not ready to give a review of my own yet, as I’m only two chapters deep, but as I was listening to chapter 1 a second time this morning, my fuzzy, not yet coffee injected brain said ‘a ha’.  The chapter discusses finding your perfect client. Which involves figuring out what clients you don’t want to work with. What?  Did I just say clients you don’t want to work with?  Yeah, that’s the reaction I had the first time I heard it.  But the second time reminded me of something.

Back when I was an employee at a title company, I was taught that the customer was always right. This meant that no matter what might go wrong it was always ‘our’ fault.  We took the blame even if it was clear that the problem rested clearly on the shoulders of a real estate agent, mortage broker or some other party involved in the transaction.  At that point in time we had several brokers that were notorious for not providing us with what we needed.  They either omitted pertinient information, forgot the file until the day before it was supposed to close or some other crucial thing that made the closing a nightmare. This was the way they did business.  I can remember my bosses being extremely frustrated, but telling the staff not to get upset, that we didn’t want to lose the business.  That title company is no longer in business and it makes me wonder if my former bosses attitude toward these difficult client/customers was the reason.  By not recognizing the fact that these clients were not ideal clients and letting them go, I believe it ended up making it look like the title company was inept and desperate.  I wonder just how differently the company would have been viewed in the business community if they had explained to these clients that they had certain criteria that needed to be met in order to conduct a closing that was smooth and satisfying for all parties involved?  Perhaps they would have lost the business of those inept few, but in return I believe they would have gained new clients willing to do what they needed to in order to gain that smoother closing transaction.

How many of us working from home offices have felt that same ‘need’ to please the client at all costs?  Sure, they might be difficult, they need handholding, they treat us like employees…but we need the money, right?  As I listened to this audiobook, I realized that when it talked about ‘dumping the duds’, or the clients that didn’t fit my business, that I too had that same ‘the customer is always right’ mentality concerning my own business.  I suddenly realized that in these cases, I wasn’t running my business…the difficult client was.  As painful as it may be to think of the lost revenue, getting rid of clients that you don’t mesh with actually makes sense.  Not only are you opening up spaces for more ideal clients to work with you, but you are going to lose all of that frustration that comes from working with someone that isn’t a good fit.  And that makes you a happier, more productive service provider. 

We as business owners may think we want that magical ‘glass slipper’ client that seems so successful and prosperous.  But take it from a girl who knows shoes, if you try to make that slipper fit when it doesn’t, it’s going to be terribly painful and could cause more trouble than it’s worth.  Podiatrists are expensive.