Letting Go: How Saying “No” to Clients Can Have You Saying “Yes” to Success

The reading level for this article is All Levels

 

In today’s day and age most people would say it’s crazy to turn down business. Don’t we all need the money? And isn’t work so scarce that it’s better to take a “so-so” job than to hold out for the “yay” job that has you excited when you get out of bed?  

I can definitely relate. For a long time I held onto a lot of clients who didn’t excite me and weren’t a great fit for me because I felt it was what I “should” be doing. But then I stopped – I let go – and it made such a difference not only in my business, but my passion for what I was doing.
  

I needed to let go because I wanted to create a place in my business for a new level of service. I created a way to work closely with a small group of people for a year and I’m giving this group my all. And I could not have done that by not getting rid of everything else.  
  

Focus on services in your business that you love, and let go of the rest. Yes, it can be really scary. So many of us have a mentality that says, “I need to take what I can get.” But I can tell you from my experience and the hundreds of clients I’ve worked with that it’s much easier to start by saying yes to the right opportunity than it is to change later or turn around the Titanic. You don’t want to get stuck with negative momentum.

 

A recent client of mine was a chiropractor who had 400 patients a week. And he was miserable. Almost all his patients were workers compensation claims and personal injury. All of his marketing efforts were bringing these people in and he was getting ready to quit.
 

I helped him gain clarity of his ideal client, and while it was pretty detailed, he mainly wanted to work with folks focused on wellness. He started offering wellness and educational seminars and it totally transformed his business. He was able to raise his rates because people focused on wellness really valued what he was doing and he was working in line with his mission of being a chiropractor and healer.
 

Until he was willing to say “no” to the clients who weren’t working for him and do something different, he wasn’t seeing a change and he was getting really burnt out.  

Don’t worry that the clients you say “no” to won’t be served. Refer them to trusted colleagues — your “no” is somebody else’s “yes.” (And everybody is probably much better off!)

 

There are so many of us holding onto things because we need the money, or this is what you’ve been doing for 20 years. But they are out of alignment with what you really should be doing. You need to create a vacancy. And when you do, the universe will find something to fill it with. But first you have to say “no” and let go.