069 The Invisible Touch – The Curse of the Bad Client

The Third Key: Relationships

Even before I read this section of Harry Beckwith's Book, The Invisible Touch, I was a strong believer in firing some clients.

I can't be all things to all people, and if I'm working with the wrong client, no matter HOW much he/she will pay me, my business will suffer.

Turn Down Service Projects When You Need To

One thing I got very good at was saying "No."

Not many people are, I have found (usually they hem and haw when asked and really have little idea about whether or not a certain project is a good "fit" for them).

"Let me tell you why I can't serve on your committee" or "Let me tell you why I can't take on that project with you" has to be said in the first FIVE seconds of the conversation when it's my turn to speak.

Often I have been called by community or church committees. When I WANTED to accept the post and would enjoy serving (because I strongly believed in the project AND felt I could do a great job), I would accept quickly.

When I felt that the goals of the committee weren't in line with my passions and strengths OR felt that service would take up valuable time that I needed for other projects, I was just as quick to turn down the request.

And I have found that the words "Let me tell you why I can't…" get the attention of the person serving me with the invitation and by the time I'm finished, he or she completely understands that I was looking out for his or her best interests as well as my own.

Refuse Business BEFORE It Hurts You

Here's an example of a project I just turned down.

The person asking me heads up several well-run and well-attended Meetup Groups in our area. He's great at running the meetings, makes sure everyone gets a chance to speak, and wholeheartedly wants each of us to succeed when we join him at a meeting.

A few weeks ago he asked me to do a demonstration about HOW to create small videos for online. I recorded my presentation and asked a member of the "audience" to join me so that we could create a new video for my Facebook profile.

The presentation went really well and the group really enjoyed it (or so several of the members commented to me).

And because I did it, I was better known… though perhaps for the wrong reason.

The organizer then called me on the phone and asked me to work on a good-sized video project with him.

I didn't want to say "no" to HIM because of his position with these important Meetup groups, but I just didn't feel that his project was the one I wanted to get involved with.

And his style of working and my style don't feel completely compatible, either… at least not for a project like this. He's a cut and dry, to the point engineer-type business owner and I'm much more right-brained, chatty, talk-it-out-together type.

His project is interesting, it would be FUN, but it would take me away from my main goal of writing here and preparing for a large project with my business partner, Dr. Marc Kossmann.

So today we had a conference call to go over his project and I told him early on that it just didn't fit with my timetable, workload, and scope of projects I need to be working on now.

I agreed to meet with him before an upcoming Meetup meeting to offer any advice that I could, but I just couldn't take on the project at this time.

He understood.

And I admitted openly to him that one of my problems is that I want to work on ALL the interesting projects that come my way but that I really have to say "no" when they don't fit my ever-narrowing definition of what I should be working on.

Would HE have been a "Bad Client"? I'm not sure… but the PROJECT would have been a bad FIT for me at this time, which means that I would not be able to serve him best.

Either way, it was important to push away and not accept this project.

Have YOU learned how to do that?

Leave me some comments about how YOU turn down business when you know it won't be right for you.

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
Blogging, Podcasting, Consulting

PS: You can find me here:

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Keep this with this article, please:

Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and personal-touch marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at http://bit.ly/24eYTO to learn more about his successes.

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Fallacies of Marketing

069 The Invisible Touch – The Curse of the Bad Client