As a Salesforce consultant, clients are like our children.
We want them to grow up strong, healthy and self-sufficient. We nurture them, guide them and show them the right way to move forward and be successful.
But every once in a while, we need to fire the bastards!
I once had a client that was insatiable. She sent me a trickle of emails throughout the day and even into the early hours of the morning. She constantly added small tasks for me to do, to correct, or to improve. I would dread opening my phone in my morning, as I knew there would be a list of emails impatiently waiting for me. It’s like these emails could physically poke me through the phone.
Our relationship didn’t start this way. At the beginning, everything seemed fine and she was eager to learn and adapt. But something changed along the way. What was once a pleasure became a type of plague.
These annoying emails became an energy drainer, and she became an energy vampire, sucking my energy to fuel herself. My ability to help other clients worsened, as I wasn’t able to focus on them and provide a “good enough” service.
So, just before my current bank of hours was exhausted (as exhausted as I was), I politely let her know I was unable to support her any further. I thanked her for the time we spent together, and suggested a few ways she could find my replacement. We parted ways amicably and I immediately felt a huge relief!
The takeaway
Like parents, we have a tendency to always want to be there for our clients. This is sometimes a very bad idea! Just as clients sometimes need to fire employees, you may need to fire a client from time to time.
Perhaps schedule a regular internal review, to see which clients provide you the greatest pleasure and those that don’t. Then consider how much better your life will be without some of them.