Saying No!

I’ve considered myself quite good at saying no to money that comes with problems. If you work with clients yourself, you know exactly who I’m talking about – those clients who don’t quite fit your business and bring along problems. There’s no amount of money in the world that makes it worth taking them on, but it’s so hard to say no.

It’s hard to turn down a client. As I mentioned, I’ve always thought I was good at it, but you learn something new every day. The truth is, it doesn’t have to be a bad client for it to be the right decision to say no. A client who doesn’t fit into your model, who can’t buy what you typically sell, is a client who deserves a no. In rare cases, it might be good to expand, but more often than not, I find that accepting these clients damages the business.

We often find ourselves in situations where someone contacts us and wants to tell us what we should be selling. I understand that clients often want special treatment or to have things done their way, but in these situations, it’s often about things we can’t do well.

If you sell lawn mowing services, you have a great ride-on mower, and you keep the lawns neat in the area, but then someone comes along and wants you to pick apples for them. That’s when you need to say no. It will only mean that you’re using your time to do something other than what pushes the business forward. Sure, it might feel good to bring in some extra money, but it’s almost never worth it. It’s better to refine the lawn mowing, increase the margins there, than to waste time picking apples.

I’m convinced that this is something we all need to get better at – saying no to the wrong client. This doesn’t mean that the client is always wrong for your or my business. Maybe it’s a service that should be developed in the future? Maybe there are the right resources available another time.