So while some of you will be celebrating Halloween tomorrow with ghoulish ghosts and goblins, we entrepreneurs are battling our own nightmare and that is………….cue ominous music…….

DUN…DUN…..DUUNNNNN!!

THE LESS THAN IDEAL CUSTOMER

You know the ones…….they come for the freebies and stay to suck the life out of you.

Well maybe I’m being a bit too graphic but I’m sure that any entrepreneur out there understands where I’m coming from. The unrealistic, problematic thorns in our sides that make us shake our heads and wonder “why?” The ones that either make us instantly religious by causing us to call the Lord’s name multiple times or make us use every curse word in the book!

You know the ones I’m talking about………yeah you do!!

Fear not, you know your friendly neighborhood marketer has got your back. Here are some quick and easy ways to spot them before they get too close

 

  • They show up in you inbox out of nowhere at some ridiculous hours and expect you to respond right away. No respect for your boundaries as they will message, call or email at ridiculous hours and expect you to respond instantly. These are also the ones that if you fall into their trap, they will not respond with the same urgency they expected from you. Easy fix: set boundaries for yourself and your business to protect your sanity. You will get to them within 48 hours and let them get accustomed to that. If their focus ends up elsewhere (which more than likely it will) then they were not your ideal customer anyways

 

  • They’re always in a rush and they just need you give them the information as quickly as possible less the world will crumble and all will be lost. This is your first clue. They want you to drop everything and literally attend to them because it’s so urgent. Take a step back and think about it……why the urgency? Why must it all be now? Do they have a plan or strategy in place before they asked you? People like this are confused and do not have their life or business together, and more than likely shopping based on price. If you stop to respond to them, I guarantee that they will take forever and a day to respond and it’s no longer that urgent. As a matter of fact, you might be lucky to get the job at all.

 

  • They know exactly what they want, you just have to do it……….translation: Just do what the hell I tell you to do. Huge no no. These people have the money but their attitude sucks. They want you to be their slave, their employee and not their partner, and will be the first ones to blame you when things don’t go their way. They know your job better than you, but still need you to boss around…….run from those fast!! Trust me, the money they pay you will be spent on therapy.

 

  • They’re more confused than chameleon in a bag of skittles. They cannot answer simple questions pertinent to their business. The only thing they are sure about is how unsure they are. If you have to care more about their business than they do, then it’s not worth it.

 

  • They love the word ‘but’ and always ready to blame someone else for past mistakes. They come to you with a story, usually a sad one of why what they did before didn’t work…..which is usually the fault of someone else. To make you feel sorry for them. One conversation will reveal this, if you hear the word but too many times or they start comparing you to one of their business ex’s then run

 

  • They ask for a discount BEFORE they even know what your price is. OMG!!! RUNNNNN!!!!!

 

  • They show up in your inbox over time just asking for advice. Yeah these are the worse but the easy antidote is simply advising them on your cost, they will immediately get a rash and run away. Promise!

 

There you have it.

Did I leave anything out?

Do you have any experiences dealing with these less than stellar clients?

Let me know in the comments below and, for goodness sake, share this with other entrepreneurs so that we can see them coming a mile away and run for our lives!!!

By the way, if you are a business owner, bootstrapping in your business, consider Crushing it with Carli Masterclass Series!!!

It’s just for serious minded business owners like you who are ready to take their business to the next level.  Head on over to www.crushingitwithcarli.com to get all the details and to see the courses that are most suitable for you
Plus for additional support join my private Facebook group The New SMS: Strategic Marketing Specialists for all the free training and advice that you can handle.