Ok, before you declare me a lunatic–and believe me, you wouldn’t be the first–hear me out. I am going to tell you how firing a small percentage of your clients right now will make your business much stronger. Yes, even in this economy.
I’m guessing most of you have heard of the Pareto Principle, better known as the 80/20 rule, right? In short, the Pareto Principle states 80% of effects comes from 20% of the causes. This is true in almost all situations when you hit a large enough sample size, and it’s powerful knowledge.
That means 80% of your headaches comes from 20% of your clients. Think about it a minute and you’ll see the truth. Freelancers, you can name these clients off the top of your head, can’t ya? I’ll bet your friends and family can name them as well. You wince when you see the name on your Caller ID. You sigh when the email hits your inbox. Maybe it takes them ages to pay, or they always want the “weird” stuff, or they are just often unhappy with something or other you’ve done for them. Whatever the root, these are the people that suck your energy time and time again. But being service-oriented, you’ve muddled through, doing the best you can for them.
Now, your 20% “bottom-rungers” aren’t necessarily bad clients. They are just bad clients for you. The clients that cause you the most stress and grief are universally the clients that are the worst fit for your business! That means you’re buying yourself most of your stress taking care a small percentage of folks who are not well-suited to what you are good at doing. Who is the crazy one now, eh?
What would happen if you axed these poor-fit clients (kindly, of course) and instead used all that extra time and energy to improve your services to the remaining 80% of your client base? You think your business would improve? I do.
I know it’s tough to fire clients. Believe me, I’m totally Queen of the Soft Touch, so this was an especially hard lesson for me to learn. Not to mention the anxiety factor: freelancing can easily lead to a “When’s the next check coming?” mentality that leaves a scent of desperation in the air, and I have no doubt it’s the same for most small businesses currently. But that’s not the point.
You’re not only doing yourself a disservice maintaining poor-fit clients–you’re doing ALL your clients a disservice. Freeing those clients up to seek another service provider means they have a chance of finding a good fit instead. Freeing up your time means you can do more, better for your remaining clients. Honestly, both you and your clients deserve better, y’kno?
I can tell you something else–I’ve never regretted firing a client. Not once in ten years. I have, however, regretted not firing a client, many times. And now, with the state of business currently, I’m even more interested than ever in working exclusively with the folks I am best able to serve.
Mediocrity cannot survive challenging business cycles. By holding on to the clients who are not a good fit, you’re effectively guaranteeing your service to about 20% of your clients will remain mediocre (and depriving your top 80% clients of your A-game full attention at the same time). Firing your poor-fit clients allows you to stay in win-win territory by doing what you’re best at doing for the people that want and need what you do best.
So what are you waiting for? Get out there and fire a client, man!
photo credit: Adam Foster | Codefor
Posted on May 29, 2009 at 8:00 am in: Small Biz Tips
