Episode 049 – Client Red Flags Part 2 – 7 Warning Signs of a Bad Client

High Ticket Sales Secrets | Coaching & Consulting Business / Personal Branding / Sales Training / Marketing / Get Clients

Welcome to another episode of High Ticket Sales Secrets. This is Dan Lok – your host, your guide and your mentor.

Yesterday, I was talking about client red flags. 7 warning signs of bad clients – clients from hell. This is part 2.

Warning Sign #5: People Who Want To Be Rescued By You

The fifth warning sign that people should pay attention to is, people looking for you to rescue them. That they are in such a desperate situation, and they would tell you, “Oh man. This is it. This is my last chance. I’ve tried everything. None of them worked.” And they’re looking at you to perform some kind of miracle that if you just wave that magic wand, all their problems will go away.

Now be honest with me. Have you ever done this before? Someone was looking for you to rescue them and you want to be their savior and you want to save people? And when you try to save people, what happens? Yes, sometimes it works, but sometimes, it ends up saving up people who don’t want to be saved. Keep in mind, anyone that is in that kind of situation always believes that. First of all, it’s not your fault. You have got to think how they got there in the first place. There are a lot of factors. If someone is struggling, there’s always something deeper going on.

A Lot Of Business Problems Are Personal Problems in Disguise

As I always say, a lot of business problems are personal problems in disguise. Someone is not making money? Yes. Maybe it’s a sales marketing issue. I can guarantee you, it’s always, always more that meets the eye. Maybe they have a negative association with money. Maybe they have a negative association with sales. Maybe they have a negative association with wealthy people. Maybe they have a problem with rejection. Maybe it’s the way they were brought up. A lot of different things going on.

So if someone is struggling and they’ve always been struggling, there’s a reason for that. And with what we do as consultants and coaches, we don’t want to be the savior. I’ll say that again. You don’t want to be the savior. I know you. You want to help people. You want to save people you. You say, “Aww, they’re just struggling so much, I should save them.” Save yourself. We’re trying to build a business here. When you’re building a business and you take on all these types of clients that are looking for you to save them, it puts a lot of stress, a lot of emotional pressure on you that are not necessary.

Be A Leader, Not A Savior

You are a professional. You are here to provide your service. You’re here to solve people’s problems. Yes. But lead. Be a leader, not a savior. Repeat after me. I am a leader, not a savior. Come on, try it again. I am a leader, not a savior. Yes. So you are a leader, not a savior. Don’t try to save people, save yourself. Help people who want to help themselves.

I don’t want to save people. I’m not in the therapy business. Unless that’s what you do, that you help people overcome these things and that’s actually your business, awesome. Good for you. I’m just saying for most coaches and consultants. If you’re providing service, you’re helping them with marketing stuff or whatever, don’t try to save people. Do not try to save people. So that’s one warning sign, number five.

Warning Sign #6: Prospects Who Ask Too Many Questions

Warning sign number 6. Prospects who ask too many questions. Too many questions. So you tell them something about your program, and they say, “Well, exactly how does it work?” So it’s like, “Hey, you know what, come attend my seminar for two days and you can learn all these great things.” And they say, “Well, I need an agenda. I want to know exactly what happens exactly at 9am and then I want an every minute, every second what’s the agenda like, how long each speaking is going to be speaking, how long is my lunch? What about the hotel or venue or location? What about the transportation to the hotel? Are the meals included? Do you give any kind of a handout? What about Wi-Fi? How does that work? Do I have to pay extra for that?”

When people ask too many questions, that’s a great sign, that’s a big reflection that they’re going to be clients from hell. Because that’s the way that they think. Very analytical, very skeptical. They need to know all these 1, 2, 3. They need to know all the details from A-Z. Guess what? If that’s the way that they behave before they become clients, when they actually become your clients, they get worse. They’re going to question everything that you do, they’re going to question every move that you ask them to make.

People like that don’t become successful. They’re losers. I just said it. People like that don’t become successful. And you don’t want to spend all your time trying to babysit, trying to please these clients, trying to answer so many questions and they can’t fucking move. They can’t make a decision. They’re indecisive. That’s how they are they’re whole life. Don’t try to do that. Don’t try to go in and try to change these people. Just don’t take them on. Just do not take them on. So that’s warning sign number 6.

Warning Sign #7: People Who Ask For Negative Reviews

Warning sign number 7. People who actually ask for negative reviews. So they’re saying, “Hey you know what? I want to join your program, I want to buy what you offer, I want to buy your service but I want reviews or references from clients who are not happy.” Now I know that sounds stupid, but you’d be surprised there are actually people who are asking for that. They want to talk to somebody from past clients who are not happy with your service. I’m like, “Seriously?”

We all have that. But if anyone that’s looking for that. See, people like that, you have to understand how their mind is wired. In their mind they’re thinking, “What could go wrong? How will this won’t work?” In their mind, their primary driving question is not, “How can I make this better? How can I make this work? How can I ensure I can make this successful?” No. They’re looking for excuses, reasons, rationale why this won’t work. That’s why they’re asking for that. It’s interesting how human beings think. So people who ask for negative reviews of negative references, don’t take them on. Do not take them on.

Bonus Warning Sign #1: People Who Are Outraged By Your Price

So those are the warning signs. And let me give you a couple more because I’m on a roll here. You want a couple more? Come on, say yes! Okay, I almost feel like Tony Robbins. “Say yes! Say yes!” Okay, but I’ll give you a couple more.

So people who are also outraged at your price. So when you tell them your price, they’re like, “Holy shit! You charge how much? Oh my goodness! You know so and so charge so much less!” or “I could find so and so at a much cheaper rate.” People like that, it means they don’t see your value. They don’t understand your positioning. They don’t trust you. They just don’t trust you. Or they’re just fucking cheap. People like that? Don’t take them on.

And don’t try to justify. “Well, you know, I charge this much because I do all these extra work, all because of my experience, because I do better work.” No, that doesn’t mean anything. People who are outraged by your price? Not a good client anyway, because there’s a different level of expectation. Sometimes, when I quote my price to people, they’re like, usually, it’s almost always I get a little bit of resistance because I charge a lot. But it’s not like, “Holy shit!” Sometimes we get that too, but that’s okay. That’s just not my client. Usually, people like that just go away once they know how much I charge. And that happens too. It’s okay. I’m not trying to serve everybody.

Bonus Warning Sign #2: People Who Do Not Understand Boundaries

Let me give you one more before we go. Also people – prospects, who don’t understand boundaries or don’t understand your boundaries. So when you take them on, and you set boundaries. Let me give you an example. So when you sign up with say a consulting client, supposedly they’re going to get, I don’t know, let’s say two phone calls with you per month. Yet, they try to get more phone calls, they try to call you out of your regular incoming call hours, or they try to email you ten times a day. They just have no boundaries and don’t respect your time.

People like that, don’t take them on. If you have already taken them on, you know what I’m talking about. It’s sucking your dry. They’re sucking your time, they’re sucking your energy like an energy vampire. You don’t want that. Those clients you don’t want to keep. I can tell you, if you get rid of them, it frees up so much more mental bandwidth and it makes you less stressful, so you focus on clients that you actually enjoy working with and you enjoy serving.

I Am Grateful To Enjoy Working With Everyone I Work With

I am very, very grateful, but this is not by accident, that every single client, every single student that I have in my life that I’m working with, I love working with them. There isn’t a person – not one single person, not a vendor, not a member, not a student, not a client, not a single person in my life, both personal and business, that I have to tolerate. I am very grateful. But at the same time I know it took me years to do this, to get to this point.

I have friends who make much more money than me. Much, much more money than me, yet they have a lot of people and things in their lives they have to tolerate. They have to suck it up. They have to talk to shareholders, they have to talk to certain accounts, they are not being authentic, they are not being themselves. They have to do things that they don’t want to do and they have to suck it up and tolerate these things.

I don’t have to do that. If I don’t want them in my life, they’re not in my life, I can guarantee you of that. And if I don’t like that person, I fire them. Life is too fucking short. Too short. And people see me fire people all the time. I try to work with people and if it doesn’t work, I just fire them. Next. Life is too short. And when I fire them, there’s no coming back. Tell them, “This is it. This is the end of the relationship.” So they don’t come back.

No Second Chances

I go even as far as – I’m not saying you should do this, I’m only saying this is what I do. I go even as far as when people apply to work with me, and if they talk to my right hand person and interview them, or I talk with them and talk about how we work, if they change their mind or they can’t take action. That’s it. I don’t do second chances. That means they’ll never, ever, ever work with me again. It’s just the way I do it. And I’m not saying you have to be that extreme. I’m just saying that’s what I do.

So those are the client red flags. If you see some of those right now from the prospects that you’re talking to, watch out. If you see these red flags with the people you’re already working with, clients that you are working with right now and you see these warning signs, be careful. You might want to consider getting rid of them so you can still keep your sanity.

Until next time. Change your offer, change your life.