Skim the cream! -- which means you MUST choose your clients carefully. Keep the best and throw the rest back. A bad client can take 80% of your time and only account for a small percentage of your income.So, I met with a potential client the other day, we've exchanged emails a few times and had our first face-to-face. I walked away from that meeting and my gut reaction was that working with him would be a big mistake. There were a couple red flags during the conversation and I decided to drop him.
Anybody here have a similar experience and care to share why they turned down a potential client?
When I was selling RE, I used to pick up cards from my competitors. When I determined that the prospect wasn't going to be a reasonable client, I would respectfully tell them that I was unable to help them. I then refer them by giving them another agent's card. It kept those other agents very busy with sellers who weren't inclined to be reasonable in their expectations. And it freed me to go find another property seller who was more reasonable.
As an appraiser and an expert witness, I turned down a lot more jobs than I accepted. And I was known to fire clients. I simply finished whatever work we had going and refused to take any more work from them. When I had secretaries, some would call and tell my staff that they were going to ask me to do _____ on a job. If their request was questionable or wrong, my secretaries would warn them not to ask me. My staff knew that I would refuse to do anything I considered to be wrong or illegal. Then I would either refuse the current assignment or totally remove them from my client list.
You may think that this business model sounds sanctimonious and prudish. It's actually a very practical firewall that protects against problems and it maximizes profits. In order to carry it off, you must produce superior work and maintain very high ethical standards.
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