How Exiting A ‘Bad’ Client Created A 7x Increase In MRR… on the same day!
A few weeks ago I did a live training for just over 150 people that was designed to help entrepreneurs and business owners to better understand exactly who their ideal client is… and ISN’T!
Now, I appreciate that might sound mad, but honestly, not everyone should be your client.
Not everyone is aligned with your service, not everyone can pay your prices and not everyone is going to be a good advocate for what you do.
Of course, we’ve all been there at the start of the business journey when you’ll take ANY client (literally any, right⁉️) but, if you’re doing it right, very quickly you’ll need to be selective with who is your ideal client; especially if you run a service-based business.
What’s really interesting is that the talk I gave a few weeks ago must have triggered something in me as I ended up having to exit a client from the business less than 3 hours after I gave the talk. But that’s not the interesting part, the REALLY interesting part is that as soon as I had firmly decided to off-board that client I ended up on a call with a company that is EXACTLY the right kind of client for us as an agency.
This new client wanted our top-tier package, which is full podcast editing, content production, brand strategy and organic social media activation too, so we’ve exited an entry-level client to take on a top-level client.
Now, I love all levels of clients equally, but the difference between the package costs is 7x, so the figures show the true value of the decision I made and the prevailing outcome.
Whether you believe in the universe, spirit, God or just coincidence here’s the timeline of how things panned out…
6:30am — did a talk about being really clear on who your ideal client is
10:00am — exited client who was not ideal
16:30pm — landed a brand new absolutely ideal client.
Sometimes you just have to make the space for the good stuff to come into your world… mentality and physically, right.
Before you ask, the way to really delve into your ideal client isn't just sitting around wishing for someone with deep pockets to walk through the door… you need to go through a process to work out who is the exact person you are trying to attract, what are their challenges and how do you (or your services) solve those client’s problems.
Here is the exercise that I went through to get clarity on this — big shout and full credit for forcing me to actually do this exercise must go to my best pal, wife and better half Family Unfiltered — Hayley Burtt who told me this exercise would be mega-valuable… and was right, as always!
SERVICES: Clearly and concisely what exactly do you offer?
IDEAL CLIENTS: Do you currently have ideal clients — if so, list them out.
NEEDS OF THE CLIENTS: What do clients need from your service in order to receive value?
CLIENTS LIMITING FACTORS: What is holding clients back right now? Essentially what problems does your service resolve?
RED FLAGS: What are the warning signs that a prospect is not an ideal client or customer?
WHAT IS SUCCESS TO THEM: What is the outcome that clients really want? More leads, increased attention, leverage their brand etc.
WHAT DO YOU OFFER THEM: What does the product or service you provide actually deliver?
WHAT TRAITS DO THEY HAVE: What are the characteristics that make a prospect your ideal avatar?
As with anything that is going to make an impact, the above questions may take time to get exactly right, but honestly, when you do put the energy into getting clarity on this, you’ll find that you know precisely who you want to attract and then you can put your efforts and resources into making sure that all roads lead to your ideal outcome!