Article Contributed by Joanne S. Black
If you want to attract more clients, then you need to fire the pain-in-the-ass (PITA) clients who do nothing but suck up your time and energy. You know exactly who I’m talking about — the time-wasting, buy-nothing customers. By dumping them, you free up time to develop and care for the ones who really matter.
Why You Should Fire the PITA Customer
You can see the warning signs a mile away as they…
• Push you on price
• Threaten to take their business to your competitors
• Make unreasonable demands
• Masquerade as the decision-maker
• Don’t return phone calls; yet expect fast, complete and reliable delivery of your service.
These clients do nothing more than create added stress that you don’t need in your life, PITA customers are never happy. They drain your energy, test your patience, and waste your time. They demoralize your entire sales team. Yet companies accept this bad business continually, thinking bad business must be better than no business.
But is it?
Dump the Hidden Costs and Start Attracting More Clients
When organizations take on bad customers, they pay a hidden cost as they leave thousands to millions of dollars on the table. By focusing on PITA clients, many business owners are losing the opportunity to use those resources going after and servicing the phenomenal clients they want and need to make money! Collect too many PITA customers and watch your profits dwindle… not a compelling scenario.
Why accept business from a few customers who drive us crazy and drain our resources? Many salespeople say they sell to “anyone who fogs a mirror”–because of a looming quota, or because their company insists on certain deals. Many sales organizations create unrealistic expectations that they can turn a bad situation into a good one.
Are you dreaming?
Bad business is bad business.
Period.
Dump the Junk and Attract More Clients Who Want Your Help – And Is Willing to Pay For It Dearly
Targeting just “anyone” often means attracting more PITA customers. Never ask a PITA to refer you.
Why?
Because PITAs hang out with other PITAs. They belong to the same organizations, play golf together, and love telling stories about how they negotiated an unprecedented deal, or whipped a salesperson into shape.
Your best sales decision: Fire the PITA. Don’t take them in the first place, and if you have one, recognize you have a PITA situation and fight back.
Yes, fight back! Don’t take their abuse. You deliver a service that boosts their business. If they push you on price, be willing to walk away. That really turns the tables.
To demonstrate this point, picture two people standing with their arms out straight, pushing on and resisting each other’s hands. No one gets anyplace. It’s a stalemate.
Now re-create the same picture: One person stops resisting. What happens? The other person moves toward the one who ceased resisting. The same thing happens when you’re willing to walk away. Sometimes you’ll walk, but many times the PITA comes to you.
Are You Now Ready to Fire PITA Clients and Attract Even More Clients
Great! But words don’t mean anything. Take action now and fire the PITA! We know them 90 percent of the time before we even begin to work with them. Say NO. It’s OK to walk away.
When you walk away, you have time to attract exactly the kind of clients you want. Follow my advice and you will watch your sales soar!
About the Author:
America’s leading authority on referral selling, professional speaker, and author of No More Cold Calling™, Joanne Black helps sales teams get more referrals and attract more business fast without increasing costs. Discover how to turn prospects into clients more than 50 percent of the time. Visit http://www.nomorecoldcalling.com.
