I was at a seminar recently with a very good speaker. One of the topics touched on was ‘grading’ your customers. It reminded me that, while this is an area I teach my clients, I haven’t written about it before.
Here’s how it might work:
- Grade A – is an absolute joy to work with, refers lots of business to you and always pays on time. You’re very happy to spend time with them over a coffee, lunch or dinner.
- Grade B – is pleasant enough, doesn’t give any cause for concern, and you have a good working relationship. You might meet up for the occasional coffee.
- Grade C – is a bit demanding, keeps changing appointments or orders and finds reasons to quibble over invoices. You don’t see them much outside their office.
- Grade D – is quite frankly a nightmare! Nothing is ever right for them and they go AWOL every time payment is due. Your heart sinks when they phone you.
I suggest you make a list of your own clients and grade each one according to the above criteria, and feel free to add to them!
Now, you may have been working very hard to accommodate your Grade C & D clients because of their extra demands. But the time & effort you’re spending on them means that your ‘better’ grade of client isn’t getting so much attention – yet they’re the ones you want to keep! So, there’s a sort of twisted logic at work.
I’m going to suggest something a bit radical here. How would it be if you ‘fired’ your Grade D clients? Let’s face it, you don’t like working with them and they probably cost more effort than their orders are worth.
Just think, with the time you save trying to meet their demands, you can be enjoying the work with your Grade A & B clients and looking for more like them!
Even in these challenging times, you don’t have to work with clients you don’t like, only with those that make the grade!
© Louise Barnes-Johnston, 2008
Louise Barnes-Johnston is “The Business Accelerator”. She provides business coaching and mentoring for entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses. Get a copy of her FREE report “10 Ways to Boost Your Business V.2” at http://www.frontline-results.com
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