"That’s because although many of these clients made sense at a different point in their growth and our own, they no longer provide support or are even profitable," adds the famous writer and author of popular books on personal development.
In a recent article on LinkedIn, Goldsmith focused on which relationships with clients are desirable to develop further, and which, on the other hand, should end. According to him, a company should refer its existing clients elsewhere if they meet the following criteria:
- they have problems with everything and even complain about insignificant details,
- they don't offer the possibility of other joint business,
- they are no longer profitable,
- they are involved in unethical or dubious activities,
- they no longer correspond with the mission and values of your business.
Using these criteria, it's also necessary to assess whether your relationships with the clients will be bad in the long term, and whether they're unlikely to change. If this is the case, such business relationships should end. The termination should, however, take place gradually rather than as a sharp cut.
Marshall Goldsmith recommends considering several questions in this context:
- How do you imagine your life in a year? Will the business relationship under consideration still be beneficial for you?
- Who would you like to meet and collaborate with? Can the business relationship under consideration prevent you from achieving that?
- What do you specifically perceive as a necessary evil or as unpleasant obligations in the business relationship?
- Are you making the decision to terminate the business relationship based on your own metrics or someone else's ones?
-kk-