I was reading Seth Godin’s blog today which discussed how our customers define our business. What I got from this article was that we should be clear on the type of customer we want to attract and be willing to turn clients away that don’t fit our business objectives.

I’m lucky that the majority of clients I work with are an absolute delight and so my work doesn’t seem like work at all. Yesterday I worked with Sylvana – she is going through The Gold Career Programme and we’ve met for 2 long sessions. She’s really enjoyed the work we have done together, and we have created a list of jobs for her to explore.  She’s got a lot from the programme, she may be a bit unsure of the future but happy to be making changes. I like working with clients like this – they aren’t people of a certain age or sex, but they are people who are willing to invest time and money into their career future, are willing and even excited about making changes and are not afraid to ask for further support if required.

I’ve realised that some clients, in hindsight I should not have worked with. I’m obviously not going to mention names, but some in the past have been difficult – they don’t do their homework, and despite being emailed checking on whether, or not, I can be of further help, they don’t get in touch and I wonder if they ever do make a career change. There’s a term of energy vampire, and that’s how I feel about these clients. Because I’ve met this sort of person in the past, I know the signs and always suggest to clients that I don’t feel a close match with are advised to work with someone else.

I’m not the only person who works with clients like this, but perhaps I’m different in that I’m willing to turn clients away. It wasn’t easy at first, but as my business has grown I’m in the fortunate position that I can say no, and I sometimes think that this is a good thing to do, making space for the clients that are right for me.

So here’s to my wonderful clients!