Why You Should Fire Clients

Sponsored by

I talk a lot about finding your dream client but if you already have an existing business, you might have a different problem. Bad clients.

For the last 2 years I have been working with trainers to revive their businesses.

This post is for you if you want to learn:

• How to identify poorly committed clients

• Why you shouldn’t focus on catering to bad clients for more money

• Why bad clients are hurting your business

Plenty of trainers would agree that they have had their fair share of clients who fail to adhere to their training or nutrition regime. As an adult you probably feel silly telling another adult to eat their vegetables and they can’t have ice-cream for dessert but the reality is in your line of work, you kinda have to. This is manageable in the beginning but, the problem for you arises when you have clients who consistently fail to adhere to the plan and have many other clients to service.

Most people know paying for a product and not using it as directed means we don’t get the right to complain when it doesn’t do what it says on the box. But, many people believe that if you pay someone for a service, results are just supposed to happen even if they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.

Clients may not realise they are entering into an agreement for a service and not just simply purchasing a product. However, unlike with social media and their long Terms of Service, stating every requirement you must uphold to maintain on the platform, most trainers do not make it clear the rules and expectations for both parties so that the relationship has a positive outcome.

With social media its easy to understand, break a term of service, expect to be removed from the platform.

Now… To help understand how we get out of this mess ourselves, we need to look out and think how we would advise a friend if they were in the same situation.

Your Buddy Tommy

Your buddy Tommy, a fellow PT and weight loss coach, has been struggling with one of their clients, Sue. Tommy complains that Sue does not adhere to his training plans but according to her nutrition tracking app she consistently eats 1200 calories per day. Somehow Sue hasn’t lost a single pound over 5 months. Tommy asks Sue to take a photo of everything she eats, and it lines up with the nutrition tracker. Tommy is at a loss.

Assessing the situation at face value, what would you be thinking?

Sue must be lying. To me it’s obvious that there are underlying issues that Sue is not dealing with, and it's not Tommy’s job to figure out. I would tell Tommy that Sue needs to see a doctor to assess how she’s not losing weight on 1200 calories with regular exercise.

I think it would be wise for Tommy to let her go and tell her to seek medical or psychological advice.

I am a huge believer in letting clients go when they do not fit with you and your business. Just like in a legal contract, you have an obligation to let them know up front when they start to deviate from the agreed “terms of service” that this will only let both the trainer and client down. Clients expect when they sign up with a coach that they will receive two things:

• A planned method on how to reach a desired outcome; and

• The Soup Nazi from Seinfeld

Your time is finite and you should only work with people who are serious and listen to your advice, its what they pay you for. Creating that expectation at the start means you have more freedom to deliver on the second part. You want soup? You better not piss off the Soup Nazi.

If they cannot do that, then they need to step aside and give someone else the opportunity to work with you. Similarly, you need to value your services enough to commit to this, don’t be all bark, no bite.

Working with half committed people compromises you

Suppose you had 10 clients in a pool, if 9 are enjoying their time and one decides to piss in the pool, then everyone’s fun is spoiled. In this scenario, you’re the pool.

Having your time and energy put into someone who doesn’t care will definitely make a negative impact to how you deliver your services to other clients. Your energy is likely to change leading up to and after working with your “Sue”. I would feel bad for the client who is working with you before Sue’s session. They could likely feel your energy shift as their session progresses.

Not only is the client before or after “Sue” affected, you are putting energy into someone who is not getting anything out of your effort instead of helping someone who would.

Sure you are making money, but at what cost? Although peeing in the pool leads to more water in the pool, do you want some of it to be piss?

They don’t make a good referral

You are selling your services. You are selling the perceived likelihood of success that a prospective client will reach their desired outcome. What helps you sell this is your track record.

If your track record is full of people like Sue, will the prospective client know that Sue’s outcome was a design of her own devices and not you? Likely not. This opinion will increase if they know Sue, and have heard Sue complain about wasting her time and money with you, even though she forgets to mention that she drinks 3 Cokes a day at work and doesn’t record them in her nutrition tracker.

So at the end of the day, if you have made it clear to your clients that they have entered into an agreement with you, I believe you should fire clients who are not upholding their side of the agreement. If you have identified a Sue, and are still working with them, then I believe you are knowingly and unethically charging them for a service they are not getting value from.

I cannot tell you how to fire them, it will be a case by case situation; but it is likely that there are precursory issues that they need to overcome before they are going to get any value from you.

You have a right to only work with people who want to work with you. You are entering in a contract with your clients and as such; you expect them to meet your expectations, and likewise for you, theirs. But you also are required to uphold this contract when these expectations are not being met. Otherwise, you as the service provider are not acting ethically.

Anyway, that’s a wrap for this week. Share this with a friend who should be letting go of a client.

If you want more, be sure to follow our Twitter (@LoadFitnessAus)

Be good.

- Reagan