"Problem Clients"

Say these two words in a group of entrepreneurs and you're guaranteed to hear stories.

Unreasonable requests. Fistfuls of hair. Sleepless nights.

Every entrepreneur knows what I'm talking about, yet most are reluctant to end these poisonous relationships:

"Oh, they're not that bad." or "They pay me better than my other clients."

While rationalizing why you should keep these clients makes sense in the short term, not getting rid of them is cheating your business out of  clients you love.

How to Fire a Problem Client

Letting go of your first "problem client" can be an emotionally charged experience, but honestly it's one of the most important milestones in your businesses.

It's important because with each problem client, you're able to get clearer  on what your "deal breakers" are and which customers are your ideal customers.

While you'll never be able to filter out every "problem client" regardless of how good your client intake process is or how fine tuned your contact form is, letting them go does get easier with experience.

As you read the scripts below, remember the 4 main goals when ending the relationship:

• Politely explain the situation
• Focus on their interests
• Be professional, you never know where people will be 5, 10, or 15 years in the future.
• Set expectations of what to expect next

Remember the scripts below are just guidelines to frame your phone or in-person conversation. I'd never recommend ending a relationship via email (even though I did in my first as you'll see below) always do it in person or at minimum over the phone.

Script 1: The Scapegoat

[Name] — After doing strategic analysis of our long term goals, we’ve decided to shift our focus to only serve a specific subset of customers going forward.

That said, our team regrets to inform you that we won’t be able be able to work on your account any more as of [date].

As you move forward in looking for other providers, we’d recommend [competition] or [competition].

Thanks for your understanding. Below is a list of next action steps you can expect from our team.

[list of action steps]

This script is my favorite for 3 reasons:

• It positions you as a business owner making a business decision.
• It sets clear expectations of the relationship going forward.
• It gives you the opportunity to send your competition your less than ideal clients.

Sending your competitors business: While recommending your competition may seem backwards at first glance, I’ve found it to be effective because most businesses will take ANY client and few have a systems in place to weed out  problem clients.

By sending your competition the time wasters, the emotionally abusive, and scarcity minded, not only do you look like a "complete pro" to the client, but you let your competition handle the problem clients so you can get more of the ideal clients.

(I've even gotten legitimate thank you letters from former competition for sending them clients that weren't a fit. lol.)

Providing a list of action steps: Since you're goal is to sever the relationship cleanly and professionally, it's your job to manage the client's expectations.

By providing a simple list of next steps, you can often prevent huge misunderstandings and future headaches.

Trust me. Use a list, it will make your life easier.

Real life example:

Below is a screenshot of the first "problem client" I ever let go.

Today I'd never let a client go over email — be a pro pick up the phone or schedule a meeting — but I've included this so you can see how I used  a form of this script below.

The only problem is that I didn't include a list of expectations and the transition period dragged on and on — just prolonging the headaches.

Make sure you include a list of action steps.

TIP: Understand Your Deal Breakers to Get More Ideal Clients

While I've written a thorough guide on how to avoid problem clients and even created a free PDF on how to build a system to filter them out, before you can get more of your ideal clients, you need to know exactly who your ideal customer is and isn't.

One of the easiest ways to do that is to make a list of your own "deal breakers" or things you just won't stand for.

Over the years my list of deal breakers has grown pretty long but here are a few that I'd recommend you add to your list:

1. Incessant haggling on price (you should be positioning yourself as a premium provider)
2. Lack of integrity
3. Scarcity mindset (this is contagious so keep it away)
4. Abusive working relationship
5. Bad emotional barriers (wants their consultant to be their friend.)

Now You're the Expert:

In the comments below, share your list of "deal breakers" and any crazy stories that might have helped you develop that list.

Remember, thousands of people around the world read these posts, so you never know who your comment or insight will help.

Always on your team,