While striving to take your business to new heights, most people’s first instinct is to focus all of their energy on onboarding new clients. After all, more clients means more money, right? Well, not always.
Sometimes, the steps to success are counter-intuitive, with many of the smartest business decisions appearing reckless or even damaging at first glance. With that said, there is a very valid argument that suggests the best way to improve the revenue and profitability of your company is not always by having more clients, but by working with less.
Confused? Well, for starters, it’s important to realize that your time is finite, and as a business owner, your list of responsibilities, demands, and obligations must be carefully managed. The more clients you have to work with, the less time you have.
Secondly, searching for new clients is a resource-intensive activity. Client acquisition costs are expensive, time-consuming, and rely heavily on consistent marketing and sales efforts. On that note, here are three reasons why working with fewer clients may be the hidden ingredient to your business success.
1 – You can prioritize your tasks better
If your schedule is constantly jam-packed with client meetings and coaching sessions, you will have very little time and energy to focus on other tasks. From time to time, it’s crucial to take a moment to take a step back from your company and assess your goals and whether or not you’re moving in the right direction. It’s hard to do that when your calendar is full of appointments.
Also, when you have fewer clients, you can provide a much better service to the clients you already have, helping them achieve better results thanks to your increased focus and more intimate coaching sessions.
Rather than stretching yourself too thin and disappointing a large number of clients, it’s far better to work with fewer clients and overdeliver on your premises. Before long, your reputation will grow, and you will have a long lost of people waiting to secure your service.
Importantly, a less cluttered schedule gives you time to focus on their important business functions, such as networking, market research, and competitor analysis.
2 – Quality over quantity
“Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.” Steve Jobs.
Just as your clients are searching for the service that best suits their needs, you should also only look to accept clients that you know will make the most out of what you’re offering.
“You don’t want just any clients, but the right clients. The ones who are thrilled to work with you. Who understands that you’re unique and different from anyone else in the marketplace. Who show up coachable, decisive, and resourceful. Who do the work, get the results, and make you look like a rock star,” explains Russ Ruffino, CEO of Clients on Demand,
Bad clients can lose you money and cost your reputation. They don’t show up, they don’t perform or follow through with your coaching steps, and they end up making you look unprofessional.
You should always endeavor to maintain a high standard for yourself and your clients. It may feel strange to turn business opportunities away, but you will thank yourself for it later.
3 – Acquiring new clients is great, but retaining them is better
As we touched upon earlier, acquiring new clients isn’t always the best way to go. It costs a lot of time, effort, and money and is never a sure bet. IF you work with fewer clients, you can make sure you keep them satisfied and come back for repeat business time and time again.
This is absolutely great news for your bottom line as you can accelerate your business growth by keeping costs at a minimum and revenue high. In addition to this, repeat customers are more valuable to your business as they tend to spend around 33% more than new customers and are up to 70% more likely to buy a new service.
Working with the same client over a more extended period of time gives you the opportunity to forge better relationships with them, which can pay dividends thanks to positive word of mouth. A happy client will usually do some free marketing for you on your behalf, and if you give them some extra incentive from a referral or affiliate scheme, even better.
How can my business survive with fewer clients?
Okay, at this point, you may still be wondering how your business can stay afloat while working with fewer clients. Well, here’s the catch, you need to charge more. (gasp!)
For one reason or another, most people tend to seriously undercharge for their service. Whether it’s a lack of confidence or a fear of scaring away paying customers, finding the sweet spot for your product or service is a difficult task.
As the Clients on Demand program teaches, if you focus on providing high-quality service and approach your business with the intention of delivering the best possible outcomes for each client, you will likely find you’ll make more money by working with fewer people.
Overdeliver on your promises, ensure your service exceeds expectations, and use your extra time to pay attention to the smaller details. Before long, your business should be running as efficiently as ever, giving you the perfect platform to scale up and take your company to new heights.
