Acquiring clients is not easy. Then why would you want to fire one?
You are a professional and making a living by advising people on making appropriate financial choices and it is perfectly reasonable that in lieu of your services, you are compensated adequately and given due respect. However, at times, you cannot maintain this happy equilibrium.
Instead of wasting time on such clients, you may do well to end your relationship with them.
Here are a few client types you should reconsider your relationship.
Mr. No
Such clients have a standard ‘No’ response. They have zero faith in you. As an advisor, you work hard to create a detailed plan that will address their concerns with the resources he has. Mr. No will consistently insist on investing in products that may not suit his long-term goals.
Mr. Bossy
Mr. Bossy does not believe in words like ‘Thanks’ or ‘Please’. These clients think that they own you just because you are getting commission from their investment.
Mr. Know-it-all
These clients will second-guess all your decisions and offer their expertise. It is likely that such clients will become confrontational and will not actually heed your advice.
Mr. Rude
Such clients do not respect your time, value and efforts. They keep you waiting endlessly for meetings. They treat you and your staff abruptly.
If you allow clients to be disrespectful or to treat your staff inappropriately, your staff will likely look elsewhere for work. They are ‘high maintenance’ clients who take up too much time and energy without commensurate business.
Mr. Obsessive
These clients obsess over everything you are doing. They will email or call you every day about the movement of their NAV movement. The point is that if a client is obsessing about every small detail, then the situation will likely never get better.
Mr. Indecisive
Mr. Indecisive cannot decide what he wants, when he wants it, or sometimes, whether he even wants it. Such clients want to hear the advice over and over again and cannot make a decision even after all that. These clients are mostly nervous about the long-term implications of their decisions and get paranoid about whatever you tell them to do.
Mr. Unreasonable
Mr. Unreasonable will scrutinise every advice you give, will delay his investments and will make sure that you know exactly how unhappy he is about your work. Drop him as soon as you can.
Mr. Invisible
After the first meeting, Mr. Invisible will vanish. You will try to reach him over email, phone, but he will not respond. If things do not go exactly according to plan, he will not hesitate to point the finger at you. Avoid this client unless you like to just follow up.
