Jack Mencini and Adam Sonnhalter, cohosts of Dirty Secrets of Small Business and coaches with Maximum Value Partners discuss how they coached their client on how she should be able to fire her client.
Through the discussion, Adam pointed out that a bad client not only affects the business owner, but also the entire team and organization of that business. The small business owner is probably so caught up in the challenges and dilemmas of dealing one-on-one with the caustic relationship with her client, that she doesn’t realize the negative affect it is having on her team.
This client of Jack and Adam’s was very concerned about the power and undefined leverage her client had over her. She was worried that if she broke away from them or “fired” them that there would be repercussions in the form of that client saying negative things about her and her business and the possibility of being sued. The MVP coaches said that although it was a concern of hers, it was not a reason to keep the business relationship with her client who was causing more stress than profitability. As far as being sued, the owner would have a strong case that her client was not handling the relationship professionally.
The tell-tale signs that a client has a problem is that the business owner is always talking about that client and not in a good way. Also if the client is holding back payments for services already rendered, and this has happened numerous times….the business owner needs to do something about it. If the client is abusive to the the team and calling after hours and making life miserable for the team, those are the other insights that there needs to be the discussion of letting that client go. If there are more negatives than positives to keeping this client, it is time to get rid of them.
To hear more about how and when to fire a client and many more insights on running a small business, access the February 13 podcast and all the Dirty Secrets of Small Business podcasts on iTunes or here.
If you have a success story or a question you would like to share, email or call (radio@maximumvp.com or 877-849-0670). You can also call in during the show each week at noon (EST) – 1:00 pm on WINT 1330 AM, call 440-946-9468 to ask your question to the Maximum Value Partners’ coaches! Access all the Dirty Secrets of Small Business podcasts on iTunes or here.