Aaron Marshall is CEO & Co-Founder of Keyrenter Property Management, the nation’s leading property management and real estate franchise.
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We hear all the time about how important it is to grow a business, and that the customer is always right.
But sometimes, in order to expand a company, it’s important to recognize that the customer or client is not always right — or not right for your business — and you should let them go. That’s right: You should fire them.
That can sound nuts or scary, especially if a client is generating a pretty steady income for you, but sometimes, in the long run, you’ll come out ahead if you bid each other farewell. So, if you’re wondering whether it’s time to show somebody the door, I have a few signs to look for that should point the way to the exit.
You’re spending more time with that client than your other clients.
In this case, your client might be a tenant, or it might be a building full of individuals and families with an apartment manager. Or maybe you have numerous residential homes you’re managing. Everybody’s situation in property management is obviously going to be different.
In any case, if you find yourself constantly going to the same property to put out little fires, and if every time your cellphone rings or you get a text or an email, you tense up and think, “Well, that’s probably Client X,” then that may be a sign this is somebody who needs to go.
Maybe not. Maybe you can fix the problem so that you spend less time with the client and everyone wins. And please don’t get me wrong: If you’re managing somebody’s property, you have a job to do, and you need to do it. Or if you have a tenant who is on the demanding side or needy, you may just have to accept that. Some clients need more TLC than others.
But at the same time, when one client is far more needy than every other client, something is probably wrong.
It may be time to ask for more money from the client — or it may be time to have a talk, to see what’s going on and if you can help fix the ongoing crises that seem to crop up every day. Or, yes, it may be that your client is so disorganized that you simply can’t continue working with them. It happens all the time, in industries around the world. Sometimes clients suck up so much oxygen that you can barely breathe and find time to help your other important customers.
Thanks to this client, you don’t have time to find new clients.
That’s a definite sign that you need to get rid of this knucklehead. It’s bad enough when a client is making your life difficult enough that you don’t have time for the rest of your clients, threatening their happiness with you and possibly making it so that down the line, you’ll be the one fired.
But your situation is grave and increasingly dangerous to your bottom line if thanks to this nuisance client, it’s all you can do to make all of your current clients happy — and you don’t have time to expand your customer base.
Keep in mind, your business has probably thrived because you keep growing your business. If you’re only managing, say, five properties, and you’re never going to look for more (I’m not sure why somebody would decide that, but stay with me), then someday, something will happen, and it’s going to be four properties that you’re managing.
And if you then for some crazy reason said, “Well, I will stick with four properties,” and you didn’t look for a fifth to manage, someday, you’d have three. Attrition always happens in this industry and in every industry. If you really want to be successful in property management, you’re always growing, at least somewhat — to offset the shrinkage that will naturally happen.
Don’t let one bad client keep you from servicing numerous current good clients and finding future clients.
The client is sucking the life out of you.
In other words, the client is toxic. Maybe the client is extremely negative about, well, everything. Maybe the client belittles you. Maybe the client simply acts in a way where every time you finish a meeting, you feel worse about yourself and life.
Your life and time are too valuable to spend doing unpleasant things like working with people who make you feel lousy, and you have better things to do with your time. The world is full of good, wonderful people you could be working with. Why not work with them, rather than somebody who makes you feel worse about your life, career and day?
I’m not saying that everybody you encounter has to be a peach, and certainly there are all walks of life out there, but I’m sure you know what I mean. Some people seem to walk around with a dark cloud following them. Even if that toxic client is a good source of income, my guess is that you can replace it — and then some.
But first, you need to remove the dark cloud that is now over you.
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