Prune your client list. Remove the duds. Delete the ones that drain you, you don’t enjoy or wish you had had the courage to turn away.
Instead, fill your portfolio with clients that you do enjoy who are motivated to do the heavy lifting to build the business they want and work from a place of passion and enthusiasm.
It starts with your vision for your practice or business:
Business and personal realms often intersect. You likely enjoy clients who are most like you and your friends. That’s a good thing. It’s easier to identify with them, find commonalities and build relationships.
Michael Port, author of the New York Times bestseller, Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling, calls it “The Red Velvet Rope Policy.” He advises that you only let the most ideal clients hire you because then you do your best work and connect better with them. You determine who gets through the red velvet rope.
The Pareto principle, or 80-20 rule, states that roughly 80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients. Wisdom dictates that you should apply this principle to delete from your client base the 80% that bring in the least amount of revenue and/or take the most amount of time. Then, love the 20%.
Here are some helpful steps:
Last but not least, hold on tight to the expectation that you will be happy and proud, personally and professionally!