Business Tips

5 Reasons Why You Should Fire Your Customers

Deciding when to end a relationship with a customer is never easy - here are 5 tell-tale signs which suggest that you might be better off calling it a day with that particular customer and concentrating your efforts elsewhere.

1. Unless they are a massive corporation and you feel like you don’t mind begging for their business and putting up with all the aggravation you get in return for acting like a subordinate, you should always feel a sense of partnership with you clients. You’re both in this together and you both succeed thanks to each other…and if you lose that feeling, it might be time to move on.

 

2. If you spend a disproportionate amount of time chasing your client for payment, consider no longer extending credit to them. You’ve provided a service - and you should be paid promptly. They are not ‘doing you a favour’ by paying, so be firm when it comes to collecting your remuneration. If this is a continual problem, find some other clients - it will save you money in the long run.

 

3. If your client has lost interest in their own business, get ready for some major changes. Assume that they are going to wind it down, and switch from fighting for their business to maintaining and servicing their account. Start looking for customers who you want to join forces with in your bid for success.

 

4. If your client starts treating you like you work ‘for’ them, as opposed to ‘with’ them, go along with their antics and do something only an employee is entitled to do: consider looking for another job. If you work ‘with’ someone, on the other hand, you have to stick it out - when a partnership faces big difficulties from the outside, this should strengthen your relationship. If it doesn’t, you might be working with the wrong clients.

 

5. If you provide a service which facilitates certain aspects of your clients’ operations, such as consulting, or acting as an agent, you don’t want them suddenly becoming an expert on the back of your knowledge and either trying to cut you out, or feeling that you are surplus to their requirements. Before you sign a deal, then establish their take on what happens 5 years down the line when everything is up and running…and if they won’t commit t telling you exactly how you fit into their plans, then fire them!

 

Every quarter, whilst your sales team is churning its prospect list and identifying which prospects are not worth their time, you should be asking yourself which of your actual clients are hindering the productivity of the rest of your business.

Identify ways in which you can politely withdraw from serving them, and make sure you don’t burn any bridges. If you’re good, they won’t know they’ve been fired…they will simply see your integrity as you introduce them to others who can better ’service their needs’.

Good luck!

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