📄 Client filter: battle scars required

Some clients are just a dream to work with:

They show up on time, they do the work, they say “Ok, how?” instead of “Yes, but”, and coaching or consulting them is fun and effortless.

Others are hard work: they argue for their limitations, they sabotage their efforts, or they blame everybody but themselves.

Or, they constantly put up a fight, trying to convince you of why their wrong ideas are right.

Would be nice to know, before they hire you, which of the two kinds a new buyer is...

But how can you tell?

After all, very often, you don’t discover a client’s true nature and manner of operating, until you’ve started the process of working together.

So here’s a simple filter, a question to ask:

Do they have battle scars?

As in: Is this their first business?

If not, are they new to the game of being an entrepreneur - are they just starting out?

Because if they are, and they’re all excited and motivated and naive to the realities of being in business, you might be in for a long and arduous struggle in trying to get them to success and results.

A salty dog however, a seasoned business owner with failures and challenges and struggles behind them, that’s usually a far more workable type of individual.

They bring humility, a student’s mindset - and they tend to work with you, instead of against you.

So if you want better clients and get more results for them, ask yourself:

This new buyer I’m talking to…

Is this their first rodeo, or do they have battle scars?

If not, you might do well to pass on the opportunity, and look at more seasoned buyers instead...