This is the final installment in our 5 business growth strategies series. In this post your Houston business coach gives some hard but controversial advice! Here it is:
Say No to Bad Customers!
Not every coach or consultant would agree with this and many business owners find this advice frightening. However, out of all our business growth strategies this one may be the most liberating.
What is a “Bad Customer?”
Some might argue that there are no bad customers as long as they pay their bill. But what about those who don’t? What about those who do but you have to spend time and energy chasing them? What about those that are never satisfied no matter how hard you try and how much you give? What about those who are just extremely difficult to deal with?
I bet you’re thinking of a few customers and clients right now that fit the bill.
As a Houston business consultant and coach, I would suggest that if you feel like you have to hang on to every bad customer you are a slave to your business! This is no way to live.
Difficult Conversations
We encourage business owners to say “no” to bad customers. There are several ways to say, “no.” And while no one likes to have difficult conversations, there are ways to soften the blow, so to speak.
I suggest that you take the humble approach and simply admit that you can’t meet their expectations anymore. Maybe you should tell them that you have come to realize that you can’t deliver what they need. “Script” out what you will say and how you will say it.
Once you eliminate the bad customer, you will discover new time and energy to pursue the real customers you want! Hard advice? Yes. Scary? Maybe. Worth it? Absolutely!
Let me wrap up this 5 part series of posts on Business Growth Strategies:
1. Make it your #1 priority to keep the good customers you have.
2. Develop and implement a strategy to win new customers.
3. Increase the size of the average transaction.
4. Increase the frequency of transactions.
5. Say “No” to bad customers.
Let me know what you think about these strategies in the comments or send us an email and let us know what your experience has been! I would really like to know!
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