The Anthithesis of Ideal Customers

For the past month, I’ve been talking about ideal customers – specifically defining what they look like, sound like AND how to identify them quickly.

This morning when I woke up, I realized that AS IMPORTANT is identifying and getting rid of those customers who are the antithesis of ideal!

Some are easy: you know – lots of work, little payoff. As salespeople we can identify them and typically only put up with the behavior (wasting OUR  time, energy, & effort) for a short period. Then we figure it out, drop them like a hot potato and move on.

The customers I believe are the  antithesis of ideal:

• have H U G E potential (what ever that looks like in your business)
• do just enough business to  keep you interested
• dangle business opportunities
• ask great questions that WE perceive as interest in us, our products, our value
• even worse, is when you like them as a person or they’re fun to talk with

then they…..

• bid the project out using the specifications YOU developed
• blame not buying from you on “them”
•  drop off the face of the earth after you give them the final proposal

and just like any bad relationship…..

• apologize later
• tell you it was really, really close
• “I” wanted to use you
• give you about details about their next project

PLUS give you a pity order (you know the little order to make you feel better)…..

Then there we are again at the top of the cycle.

Today – look for these leaches of time, drainers of energy, wasters of knowledge THEN right now kick them out of your account base.

I’m not one to tell them what I’m doing – I just stop calling, take my name out of contention; if they call back some day (most don’t – they are wasting my competition’s time now) politely decline.

Don’t wait think of all the time you will free up to spend with your ideal customers! Oh the fun you will have, the money you can make.