The best clients make being in business all worthwhile. They value your expertise, appreciate your hard work, they’re friendly to work with and they pay their invoices. You’ll always go the extra mile for those clients – they drive your success.

Then there are the clients who aren’t quite as enjoyable to work with. The ones who want everything in a hurry, at a rock-bottom price, and then complain about the invoice. Should you consider getting rid of your worst clients?

Rate your clients

Make a list of your clients and think about how you might rank them. One way is to put them into grades from A to D. You might like to consider how much revenue they bring in, how pleasant they are to deal with, how promptly they pay and how many other clients they have referred.

'A' clients are good on all measures, 'B' clients might be good on most, and 'C' clients might be a bit difficult but worth the effort. The lowest-ranked 'D' clients are those who take up a lot of time, for very little money, and generally cause you far more stress than they’re worth. This exercise is also valuable for giving you an understanding of the client profile you need to attract more of.

Why would you fire a client?

It might seem crazy to get rid of a client when it can be tough to attract new business. But if a D client is consuming far too much time for only a tiny amount of revenue, that’s time you could spend finding a new A or B client to replace them. Or you have time to improve your service for your A clients, increasing their spend or allowing you to raise your prices.

Need some help?

We have experience with business owners who have turned clients away, and we can talk to you about the pros and cons of shedding your worst-performing clients. And that’s only one of the ways we can help you grow your business – give us a call and let’s talk.