I’ve long been a proponent of getting rid of clients and projects that drain your energy and give you little in return, so I was delighted to see a recent post on the marketing catalyst blog about how saying no to a client can be a profitable marketing tool. See if you agree that Bruce Allen has some great points:
“A banker friend of mine is VERY busy right now, but he did observe that most of the deals he is working are smaller with tighter margins. He also observed that some of the deals in his in-basket keep getting shuffled to the bottom of the pile. These are the deals that are higher maintenance, lowest margin for effort, and just not any fun to work on… deals that several months ago he would not have accepted…
“…Taking on clients I cannot service well means that I am creating my own negative referral network.” “And,” he continued with renewed inspiration, “If my reputation depends on excellence than I should be hand-picking every new client as if my career depended on it!”
Have you been hand-picking your clients?
Susan Martin, marketing coaching.
