What to do when your client's just plain ??.

Spoiler: You missed the early warnings and it's time to cut bait.

You’re still here?!

Whew! That’s a relief. ???

Thanks for not blocking us.

Since you were nice enough to stick around, we have a juicy (ew) new query today.

But first, a quick word from us (so you can learn more about what Elana most regrets from her 20s).

Ok, you’re back. Er, we’re back? Anyway, to the good stuff.

??Your question…

?? I’m a Vistage Chair serving 38 members across several CE groups. Most members are great. They offer lively input, contributing to our chats in such a way every person around the table receives value.

Then there's “Eeyore.”???

Or if you're not a fan of Winnie the Pooh, he's just a jackass.???

He refuses to offer anything to the group, killing our culture vibe of vulnerability. What do I do?”

-Mike M., Vistage Chair

???Show time

Okay, this is going to be a short newsletter.

Show Eeyore the door. ??

Kidding.

Well… only kinda.???

To illustrate why drastic action may be Mike’s answer, let’s share our own experience with Vistage groups (they’re amazing by the way… 10/10).

?? A Tale of Two Coasts (with ?? from Ryan)

I have been a member of four Vistage groups… including one East Coast and three West Coast chapters.

The difference between how these groups handled prospects was striking—and revealing.

The East Coast group was no b.s. For instance, when a prospect wanted to join, they had to go through multiple interviews with existing members. This was to see if they would fit in and not disrupt the circle of trust—just what Mike’s problem member did.

We were then asked to give our feedback to the Chair who made the final decision. Some prospects flunked out. They were probably fine people, but they didn’t fit our group values.

And in Vistage [and in business], the group dynamic is key to success.

One of the West Coast groups? Well it ran a bit differently.

It had a much more OPEN attitude. The result was we had a bad apple join our group. When group members opened up, this dude gave out plenty of criticism—none of it constructive.

At one point, the group was in danger of disbanding until several members sat down with the Chair for a needed heart to heart. Once the members helped him realize the drama llama was wrecking the culture, the Chair finally let them go.

This may be what Mike needs to do. Read on to learn why.

?? It’s About Thriving—not Surviving

It’s hard for anyone in sales to think about firing customers. They are your company’s lifeblood.

And this challenge only gets supercharged when your business is struggling.

A close peer of mine we’ll call “Timothy” was once in transition and hemorrhaging cash. He was desperate for clients—any clients—to keep the lights on until he could right the ship.

Flailing, Timothy began accepting “door clients”—literally the first customers through the door. ??

The problem?

Most door clients were crazy and made his life hell. When he turned to me for advice, I said, “Be intentional about your clients. If someone rotten is ruining your experience as a business owner and leader, end the engagement.”

Timothy was hesitant to take this advice until a final blowup over a minor point made him realize bad clients can be worse than no clients.

Thankfully, dropping that jerk gave Timothy the capacity to land two new clients who were more reasonable and more profitable.

He came to realize just because you have door clients doesn’t mean you must be their doormat!

By the way, this isn’t just us talking. The brainiacs at the MIT Sloan School of Management agree you must fire bad customers:

“Firing any customer goes against much of the prevailing wisdom in marketing and business…. However, not all customers are good business. In our conversations with practitioners, they often point to examples of customers they would like to cull because serving them is an endeavor with little or no likelihood of ever becoming profitable.”

?? Storage Wars—IRL (Elana’s turn)

As for me, this a story about an acquaintance to prove this concept applies to every industry, not just consulting and sales organizations. A person whom we’ll call Mark had a variety of retail business interests but made a big jump by buying eight storage complexes.

(BTW, I suspect to this day that the real reason he made this move is he’s hooked on the TV show Storage Wars.)

Regardless, Mark was a canny operator and soon had his facilities running in the black.

All of his customers were great—except for one women who loved to make his life h-e-double hockey sticks.

Mark soon dreaded getting calls from his facility managers. She was raising a terrible ruckus on the daily, even threatening to sue him. ???

At last, Mark came to me with his problem. “Elana, this crazy person thinks she owns my soul for the monthly price of four storage lockers.”

Ever the realist, I pulled no punches: “You’re making yourself sick over one single client? It’s time to change the locks on her.”

Mark’s face changed in an instant. It was somehow a shock to this seasoned entrepreneur that as businesspeople, we can choose whom to do business with.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, within a week those same units were quickly rented out to a new customer.

A nicer, well-paying customer.

Anywho, hope you enjoyed this edition.

And if nothing else, this is your permission to choose who you do business with.

Until next time! ??

Elana and Ryan

P.S. Sales problems wrecking your business—er… life? DM me your burning question and we’ll answer it with our signature candor and wit?.