I’m chuckling at myself right now as I read these words, swiped VERBATIM out of my private coaching client contract from back in the day. 
My contract back then — more about that below — may read as “comical” to some.
Because let’s face it, I was an unknown.
And coaching clients paid my bills. I was NOT in a position to just “not work” or not make money.
This was NO hobby business.
And yet, I was unwilling to work with “just anyone.”
*** NOTE: This post is about choosing your clients, even — and especially– when you think you can’t afford to do so. This post is about carving a path for your BEST clients… about why I refunded an unsolicited payment sent my way this morning… and why THIS approach with my business early on yielded such amazing results.***
So, back to my coaching contract… it stated — in writing– that I had specific requirements for coaching clients. I listed them in a bulleted list (including yes… that I had to like them and enjoy seeing them succeed) so that they could tell ME if they didn’t meet ANYONE of my requirements.
lol…
Even **I** chuckle at this now. But I began thinking about this today when I found an extra couple thousand dollars in my account, sent to me via someone who I had PREVIOUSLY invited to do a VIP day with me, in 2018.
My first thought was that she had paid 2018 rates and that I’d have to tell her the price went up. She’d have no way to know this, of course, because I’d long ago stopped marketing to her… about anything.
AND THEN I REMEMBERED WHY.
She was negative.
She was indecisive.
She was always “waiting” on something,
BUT mainly, she was a disappearance artist. lol…
She’d say she wanted “in” on this program or that, was a ‘HELL YES’ for a VIP day, multiple times…. only to just disappear.
At a certain point, I simply knew that I didn’t want to work with anyone like that. And she went on my NIB list. (NIB is a term I swiped from a private school. It means “not invited back.”)
So, I stopped inviting her back to Women Who WOW.
I never again invited her into a VIP day when those were offered. She was never again on my invite list for new programs or live events.
This was NEVER about me being mean or even exclusive. I was just curating my energy, my environment… and yes, my brand.
Women Who WOW IS what it IS largely because it’s a brand that badass, decisive, driven women are drawn to. They’re successful — in part — BECAUSE of their decisive nature, and they — like me — are intolerant of a bunch of “waiting and watching.”
Anyway, as I’m hitting “refund” on her payment, with a very kind and very true note, along with a referral to another coach, I smiled a bit to myself… thinking of how relevant this is.
Your business and brand is built
as MUCH on what and who you allow in…
as what you KEEP OUT.
Even when the economy says,
— or your personal situation may encourage–
a “take anything you can get” approach,
that will ALWAYS come back and bite you in the end.
Bad clients are always profit drainers. They take more time, more energy, need constant babysitting, and often don’t do the work so they don’t see results. And then, they tell OTHERS that your stuff (diet, program, products, etc.) doesn’t work.
btw, this doesn’t mean they’re bad people. They could be AMAZING clients for someone else, but nightmare clients for you.
So, let them loose.
Send them an adios (with blessing!) message and in setting THEM free, you create a more perfect environment for those clients who will be NEAR IMMEDIATE yeses, fit right in, and be JOYS to work with.
Nature ABHORS a vacuum,
so whenever you’re faced with a client who wants to pay but in your HEART you know they’re not a perfect fit…
I urge you to CREATE the vacuum,
and make room for clients you’ll LOVE hearing from!
P.S. HUGE shout out to my Women Who WOW members who are rock stars, who are navigating this pandemic like it’s the WAVE they’ve been seeking out all of their adult lives and FINALLY have the chance to surf. My hat is off to each of you. What an HONOR it is to stand beside and behind you in such a time as this.
P.P.S. NOW is the time to join Women who WOW. Message me for our binge-worthy training library… increased JUST IN TIME for quarantine!
P.P.S. to the Project $10K-er who just now — literally in the past couple of minutes — surpassed her $10K goal…. woman, I wish you could see my standing ovation. Congratulations to you…. and to those who CHOSE you. They are in good hands!
