It is good for the soul to turn down the wrong potential clients.
I have said that line for years, but I was reminded of it strongly this past week. In the past twenty-four hours, I turned down two potential clients for our Membership Freedom community who were interested in joining.
What’s interesting is that, in the past, I would have welcomed them both. They seemed to be good people, and they lined up with what we are collectively doing in the group by looking to build a membership and community for their business. So they fit the niche very well. But I still said no. Because even though they appeared to fit, there were key points that made it easy to make this decision.
There were three things said by both people, that caused a light bulb to go off in my head. These three points are the same things I hear from the people who frustrate me the most. And they are the people that take up the most time and make the least amount of progress. So, instead of spending my time with people doing things to progress, I spent too much time on the people that said these three things.
1- The inability to commit to a niche.
Now, we have all been there. We don’t know exactly what it is, so we work to figure it out. But there is a difference between trying to figure out what the niche is and saying that you just have too many things that you want to do. What I heard from both of them is this.
“I have something that I really love, and I help people with. I know I can do it. But there are so many other things I want to do as well.”
As soon as those words are spoken, it’s a red flag. It’s a red flag because I know, after years and years of coaching, that too many of those people flop from one thing to the next in business. Without the dedication to be truly great at something where they can stand out, their creative juices stifle them by leaving too many options open. I can speak about this because, for too long, it was me.
I consider myself a creative. I love trying different things and the idea of focusing on one thing frightened me. I believed it would limit me. As it turns out, it was the exact opposite. By becoming super focused, I am able to eliminate confusion and overwhelm and increase clarity and confidence. Without that, I put mediocre effort at best into a handful of things, and I confuse my potential clients.
The inability to commit to a niche is the mantra of the most overworked and misunderstood wannabe entrepreneurs.
2- I would be bored
When we discussed deeper why they were reluctant to commit to a niche, this is the common response. They don’t want to narrow their options because they think they would be bored by niching down. What they completely miss is that once you commit to a niche, an entire new world of creativity opens up. When we committed to the niche of memberships, all of a sudden, endless new content to create and study became available because I was too surface level with my work.
But once I committed to that niche, not only am I not bored, I couldn’t be more excited about the variety of work I get to do. And, everything I do now is connected to our core message, which makes everything more marketable and clear.
Boredom is not the reality when you decide to commit to a niche. It’s the complete opposite.
3- I don’t want to do this forever
This one drives me nuts. I’ve made a declaration inside the community to strike that sentence from their vocabulary. The “not wanting to do things forever” phrase is what is muttered by those who procrastinate too long and fear making a commitment. Nobody ever says you have to do anything forever. In all honesty, the world changes too fast to even do anything forever anymore. So stop saying it.
Saying that phrase robs you of the opportunity to commit to something. It keeps you general. I love having options, but too many options robs us of opportunity. We only get that freedom when we fully commit to something. And just because you do, it doesn’t mean you do the same work for the rest of your life.
Every day in business requires small pivots. Learning. Adjusting. You can all out commit to a niche, and the work three years from now will be vastly different from the work you do today.
Believing that phrase will keep you stuck.
And because I have seen this so much, and both of these potential clients said these three things, I turned them both down. Instead, I pointed them to other materials and options we have that would help with their growth. And if and when they are ready to move past those perceived limitations, they will be valuable members of our community.
I truly think it’s good for the soul to turn down the wrong clients. Being able to do that shows me in real time that this is about so much more than money. It shows me that these decisions are the ones that shape the fabric of our communities, they let us know who we thrive working with and they keep us in line with the reminder that bigger isn’t always better. Sometimes better is better.
Have an AMAZING week!
Vincent
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