Bad Haircut and When to Fire a Client

Bad Haircut and the Wrong Clients

Watch the 9 minute video.

Hair on Fire

When my esthetician moved to another state. I had to find a new person to cut my hair.

I got recommendations from women at my gym. They all have very short hair. (That should have been my first clue.)

I booked an appointment to try their hairdresser. I had some good results, but nothing as fabulous as with my previous stylist. My last haircut at the new salon was a disaster and it needed another stylist to remedy the problem.

Debating if I should I go there again or not? I called and left a message to book an appointment.

Waiting by the phone

And I waited, and waited, and I waited. And then I got a phone call back after hours more than a week from the time I called the salon.

I waited to see if I got a call back. I got fired. I got fired as a client.

Fired!?#!

I had two conflicting emotions: Relief because I was feeling awkward about firing them and annoyed because I've got to find somebody else to cut my hair.

And then I had a light bulb moment. Sometimes it is better to fire a client who is not the right fit. They are not going to be successful, and neither are we

I was being released from the roster of my hairdresser, she did not feel confident that she would be successful with me and I in turn, didn't have confidence about going back for another potential bad haircut.

Who Do You Love?

Ask yourself if as you are building your audience and you're building your business, are there people who want to work with you, but they're not really the right fit? Let go of feeling like anyone is your client or reader or partner. And you know what happens? More of the people you are meant to help will appear.

I'm not saying avoid challenges. Think about how you feel when you are working with people with a high probability of success, when you are on the same page, when you communicate easily and clearly with each other.

Now, picture the opposite when everything feels like a struggle.

What do you want to have more of?

When people follow through on what they say they're going to do when they will listen, when they ask for advice and are willing to be curious, those are the kinds of people I find are the best suited to work with me and me with them. How would you describe your favorite clients, readers, people you like to spend time with the most?

While I have to find a new hairdresser, this is an opportunity and it reminded me about making it clear who is and is not my audience.

Let Them Go…

Letting go of those folks who are not a good fit is a big win for all concerned. As you look over your vision of potential readers and clients, take stock of your existing clients and why you like some more than others.

Are you crafting the ways you attract people to you, are you presenting a picture of success?

Are you making it clear who can most benefit from working with you, reading your book? Who do you want to help?

Marketing Can Be Fun

For more tips about book marketing, please join me at bookmarketingmentor.com. You can get a free tip sheet on how to get more book reviews and find other resources for you.

Judy Baker, Book Marketing Mentor. I help busy women CEOs get more bang for their book. That's https://bookmarketingmentor.com

The thumbnail for my video was created in Canva, using a Photo by Adam Winger on Unsplash