I fired a client last week.
It’s been a few years since I last did this, but it had to be done.
I took a few new clients on January 8th, and this client chose the email coaching option.
I knew there was a problem within 24 hours, but it took me 6 days to make the decision.
I refunded her money and told her I just couldn’t help her.
What was the problem and how can you spot these problems early, before you invest too much of your time and energy?
You have to be careful when you work directly with clients.
Continually investing in someone that isn’t a good fit for you DRAINS you.
You can literally feel your energy and enthusiasm drain out.
Hold on to a couple of clients like this, and you’ll soon hate what you do.
So what was the problem that made this so important?
She didn’t want my advice.
She wanted to do things her way.
It felt like she just wanted my blessing on her plans and her way of doing business.
That won’t fly.
The first warning sign was after emailing her my first piece of advice.
One of the statements she made in her reply was, “You can argue with my approach…”.
That’s a confrontational statement.
That alone should have a been a huge warning sign which I ignored for a few more days until more problems came in.
If you’re going to hire a coach, why would you immediately want to argue with the systems they use?
That doesn’t even make sense.
That doesn’t mean clients and I always agree.
We brainstorm and often come up with several possibilities before deciding together on the best solution for them.
My favorite clients are collaborative, meaning we interact and come to conclusions together.
Watch out for clients who are confrontational and defensive immediately.
Something is not right.
We went back and forth in more emails, giving advice on ways she could improve the conversion on one of her websites.
But she had her own way she wanted to do things.
As an experienced consultant, you get that little nagging feeling that there is a problem…which you can’t quite put your finger on.
Then she emailed that she did something just because I recommended it, but she had no intention of actually using it.
That was the end.
It may sound a little woo-woo, but you can ‘feel’ when something is wrong.
As an introvert, I’m a little tired after talking on the phone to several clients in a row, but there is also a feeling of being energized at the same time. We wrote new copy for their business. We came up with a new offer they can test. We solved a problem with one of their systems. And we did it together.
If you instead feel a little ‘sick’ inside, then you’re dealing with negative relationships that doesn’t benefit either of you.
Life is too short and there are too many quality clients out there to suffer with that.
Listen to your intuition when it tells you there’s a problem.
If you’re interested in being a client with me…and you’re open to implementing new systems proven to help you earn more, work less, and enjoy life…feel free to reply to this message.
I have one coaching slot available now…
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If you’re not ready for one-on-one coaching, then check out the Monthly Mentor Club.
You get immediate access to over 40 of my detailed guides designed to help you attract more buying traffic, increase your conversion rates, write emails that sell, put systems that save time in place, identify your core strengths…and so much more.
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