Entrepreneurs have always lived by the overused mantra “The customer is always right.” When you think about it, it’s actually genius because this one-liner serves as a forceful reminder to everyone in the service sector to fully embrace their customers.
But what if your customers aren’t always right?
In the B2B marketplace, the mantra of entrepreneurs is a little different. When they look at their prospects, they look at their overall value, which includes their financial capacity, business outlook, goals, and whether they’d make good business partners. The possibility of a long-term business partnership necessitates B2B marketers to choose their clients very carefully and aim to capture high-value prospects.
To guide you in choosing future clients, we compiled a list of the seven types of clients your B2B firm is better off without.
1. The contract breacher
Don’t let the contract breacher fool you. Everything about them may look and seem legitimate, but they play the dirty tricks once the contract is signed. They’ll find ways to violate your agreement, ask for unreasonably huge discounts, or make unnecessary demands. You should learn to say a firm “no” to these types of clients.
2. The proposal thief
They seem like an overly thorough client so they’ll ask you to pitch a comprehensive, detailed proposal. But the moment you do, they’ll just use your ideas to get more out of their current vendor.
You can avoid the proposal thief by seeking out a meeting with a firm’s top-level executives so that you can personally present your insights to them.
3. The secretive one
The secretive one seeks help but not really. They won’t tell you directly how you can help them. Instead, they keep you in the dark and you’re clueless about what they really need from you. As a result, you can’t create a sound strategy to sell your idea.
If you’ve tried directly asking them how you can help them but they won’t budge, it’s best so simply move on to your next prospect.
4. The law-bender
Some clients don’t have the patience to stick to legal ways of doing business. They tend to operate within loopholes, and they expect their current vendors to do the same. No matter what, you should refrain from associating with these kinds of clients.
5. The meeting dodger
We understand that the B2B marketplace is filled with busy entrepreneurs, but this is no excuse to consistently ditch meetings and other scheduled appointments. If a client repeatedly cancels on you at the last possible minute or is simply nowhere to be found, take it as a sign that they don’t care about your future business partnership as much as you do.
6. The fake client
The fake client’s worst habit is making false claims about who they are and the role they play in a company. They’ll claim to be a top-level manager and you’ll find later on that they don’t really have a say in the firm’s decision making process.
7. The contacts hoarder
They think they can siphon off a list of high-profile prospects from you by pretending they need your services. In reality, they’re after one thing: your network and contacts. If you ever encounter one, it’s best to confront them and then offer your expert advice on how they can build quality connections in the industry.