Fire Bad Clients? By Steve
Waterhouse
Do you know what makes a good customer for your
company? I'll bet you do. You know whether your company
is better with the Fortune 500 or the Inc. 500. You know
what product lines your operations service best and
where the quality is the highest. You know what
industries are willing to pay a premium for your level
of customer care. You probably even know which customers
are likely to have a long and profitable relationship
with you and which are just looking for the lowest
bidder for this quarter's supplies.
On the other hand, you know how to identify bad
customers, too. The poor fits, the bad credit risks, and
the demanding QA departments. The ones that ask for
expensive prototypes with little probability of a
significant purchase. Unfortunately, we book these
either because they are easy sales or because we don't
have enough good business ready to close. As a result,
we waste valuable personal time and company resources on
clients that will never show a significant return on the
investment.
Open up your Daytimer? right now and identify three
clients that you know, in your heart of hearts, are bad
fits for your company. Take this list to your sales
manager and operations director and see if they agree.
Now comes the hard part. Fire the bad clients!
I was facilitating a discussion at one of my clients
last week when this very issue came up. It became clear
that too many scarce engineering resources were being
spent on projects that would never pay back the
investment. As we outlined a typical 'bad client', the
room erupted in a chorus of "I know which client that
is!" We all agreed that this project had to be ended for
the good of the company and, in fact, for the good of
the client who would eventually be under-served. I
asked, "Who's going to call the client and tell them the
bad news?" Without hesitation the most senior
representative in the room raised his hand. Without one
complaint Isaac said, "It's my client. I'll call them."
We can't focus on the winners until we shed the
losers. Help your company win by understanding what
makes a good client. Be willing to turn down bad
business even when it means a big commission. Help your
company win by following Isaac's example. It's your
client. Make the call.
Now go find some good business for your company!
Steve Waterhouse is Principal and Founder of Waterhouse
Group (www.waterhousegroup.com), a sales consulting and
training company that helps companies dramatically
increase their sales. He can be reached at
1-800-57-LEARN or
info@waterhousegroup.com.
Re-Print Permission
This article may be reprinted in it's entirety if the
following conditions are met:
- The complete tag with the author's name and contact
information is included immediately after the article.
- A copy of the printed article is mailed to the author at
1467 Walnut Creek Drive, Orange Park, FL 32003 within 30
days of publication.
- The article is presented in a positive light as part of
an appropriate business related publication.
|
