Christopher V. Flett

“Culling is the process of removing animals from a group based on specific criteria. This is done either to reinforce certain desirable characteristics or to remove certain undesirable characteristics from the group.”

While it seems severe, every business must cull their bad clients to ensure they can focus on the needs of their good clients. Sometimes the difference between good and bad can be confusing because you may actually like your ‘bad’ clients and common sense is not as easy to practice. The problem with not culling your clients is that the bad ones put you in a mood or state that doesn’t serve your good ones. The bad ones don’t pay on time, they don’t respect your time, they are constantly rescheduling, they don’t respect the relationship, or they make your life harder than it needs to be. The good ones pay on time, respect your time, keep their dates with you, are appreciative to be in the business relationship, and working with them seems easy.

The way I know when the time is coming to cull is how I feel when I roll out of bed, turn on my iPad, and look at my schedule for the day. If I smile when I think of who I’m going to see/talk to, then I know these are the right people to have on my roster; if I roll my eyes, feel my shoulders get heavy, and feel myself getting into a bad mood, then I know it’s time to pay attention and make some decisions.

You see, when I started Think Tank Communications back in 1999, my client list was filled with ‘bad clients’. Most were Economic Developers of cities, government bureaucrats, or politicians, and they were a pain in the ass because they cared more about how the work ‘made them look’ then the work themselves. The money was good, but the work was shit. It took a year to realize that by serving bad clients, you don’t open up your prospects of working with good clients and that gets you into a funk.

Spend some time this week looking at your client list and decide who has become high maintenance and unenjoyable to work with and then look at those that you can’t wait to talk to, who you happily go the extra mile for, and who puts a smile on your face. Serving bad clients isn’t really doing anyone any favors. Not them, not you, and not your good clients.

Lucky for me, I have three of my favorite clients today so the day started with a smile on my face for me. As for tonight, it’s time to look at my client list and decide who will be continuing on in 2012 and who will be better served by someone else. Mediocrity doesn’t live here.