Free Yourself from Bad Clients

By Andrea Conway

Common sense dictates that, when you’re self employed, you must sell to any customers who come your way, including the ones you never can manage to please. Fortunately, in this case common sense is wrong. When it comes to Successful Self Employment, nothing takes precedence over your alignment with Spirit (and you can tell when you're aligned because you're feeling good). Few things knock you off center faster than a customer who makes you miserable.

By putting up with bad customers, your attention becomes drawn to your unhappiness with them. You typically feel resentment or worry, you probably complain to others, and you carry around, perhaps unconsciously, a fear that more bad customers may come your way. If these patterns persist over time, they often do end up attracting other unhappy people and circumstances—because you have the Law of Attraction working against you instead of for you.

Here's a better way to handle bad clients. First, take your worries about losing the income from this client out of the equation, at least in your mind. If the client is a major contributor to your income, please don't do anything rash immediately. You can begin in your mind to be willing to let go of the person and trust Spirit to set up circumstances so that neither you nor your customer experiences hardship.

The willingness is all you need to have. When you are willing, you are also open to the new ideas Spirit sends your way for handling the situation. Turn things in your direction by your confidence that the spiritual principle called Law of Attraction is now working on your behalf.

Then, decide whether there is anything you can legitimately do or say to the customer that will ease the situation. Be as honest and respectful as you can.

One coaching client of mine, faced with an unpleasant customer who frequently threatened to take his business elsewhere if she did not make this or that concession, finally said to him with total sincerity, "You've been our customer for a long time, and we have tried to please you, but we can't seem to make you happy. We would hate to see you go, but if you believe we can't do what you need, we completely understand."

The man did leave, but in an atmosphere of mutual respect rather than hostility. My client picked up two new customers within the next ten days who more than made up for the loss of the unpleasant man's business. That kind of outcome is typical when you gently let go of customers that aren't working out.

Be clear with yourself that your product or service is of such outstanding quality that it deserves only those clients who are truly able to appreciate it. Affirm that you want to serve the people who are ready for the best of what you have and that you are willing to release any who don't want your best. Think often about your clients who are a joy to work with, and let them know how much you appreciate their business. Even a small gesture such as a hand-written note can be a beautiful expression of appreciation that will make you and your client feel great—exactly what spirituality in self-employment is all about.

As you continue to practice willingness to let go of the bad clients and appreciation of the good ones, you will slowly and easily transition to having only wonderful ones.

© 2005 Andrea Conway

Andrea has been coaching small business owners since 1992, when she quit her job as product marketing manager in a Fortune 50 computer firm and started Conway Marketing Associates. As a marketing consultant and business coach, she has assisted more than a hundred clients at leading technology companies and technology start-ups, as well as small business owners and solo professionals, to achieve their business objectives. You can reach Andrea at successfulselfemployment.com