{"id":6317,"date":"2017-05-12T04:45:44","date_gmt":"2017-05-12T09:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/2010\/06\/why-you-can%e2%80%99t-afford-that-high-maintenance-client.html"},"modified":"2022-02-15T12:36:14","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T18:36:14","slug":"three-reasons-you-cant-afford-that-high-maintenance-client","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/three-reasons-you-cant-afford-that-high-maintenance-client\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Reasons You Can\u2019t Afford That High-Maintenance Client"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several years ago I had a client who was really \u201chigh maintenance.\u201d This was someone with unreasonable expectations of me and my company.
\n
\nUnfortunately, I didn\u2019t see that on the front end. I was too focused on the supposed opportunity<\/a>. As you can imagine, it didn't take long to find out we had a problem.
\nAs we closed out the first thirty days, I sat down with the client and a few of his staff members to review our progress. I had worked hard\u2014more than the size of the account warranted\u2014in an effort to exceed his expectations. I was sure I had hit it out of the park.
\nNot so much.
\nThe client was very unhappy. Not only did he not praise me for what I had accomplished, he didn\u2019t even acknowledge it. He focused exclusively<\/em> on what I hadn't done. Talk about the-glass-is-half-empty. I was stunned.
\n
\nNot surprisingly, the client fired me a few months later. It was very painful. But as difficult as that experience was, it did lead to some positive outcomes, starting with me beginning to understand the need to clarify expectations from the get-go.
\nBut here\u2019s where it gets interesting. A few years later that same client came back to me and practically begged me to take him back. Stupid me. I did. (I\u2019m not proud of it.)
\nI naively thought this second time would be different.
\nHe\u2019s changed,<\/em> I told myself. I even assured my staff\u2014and my wife\u2014that he had changed. Besides<\/em>, I reasoned, I have also changed. I\u2019m a better manager this time around.<\/em>
\nI was wrong on both counts.
\nThe client had not changed. He was still the unreasonable, demanding tyrant he had always been. He could still turn on the charm when he needed to, but fundamentally, he was a narcissist. Nothing I could do\u2014or could ever do\u2014would change him. It was all about him.
\nBut I hadn\u2019t changed that much either. I am pretty good at creativity and execution, but I am not superhuman. I had not suddenly acquired dazzling new powers. In fact, in some relational experiences like this, I am admittedly a slow learner.
\nRegardless, here\u2019s what I distilled from that second experience:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Some people are just high-maintenance.<\/strong> They operate out of their \u201cwoundedness,\u201d to borrow a phrase from John Eldredge. I am never going to please them. I will only deplete myself trying.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
  2. High-maintenance clients are a distraction.<\/strong> They suck up more than their fair share of resources. In fact, if I let them, they will suck up everything<\/em> I and my team have to offer. They are a bottomless pit.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
  3. \n

    They keep me from serving others.<\/strong> I am better off to say \u201cno\u201d and spend the time searching for low-maintenance clients\u2014or at least reasonable ones. It\u2019s really not fair to my other clients or my teammates to keep these \u201cMe Monsters\u201d around.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I don\u2019t mean to sound unkind, but there are just some people you are not<\/em> called to serve. You can spend all your time caught up in the drama of their demands and accusations, or you can move on.
    \nThe sooner you cut the     cord and fire them<\/a>, the more productive\u2014and happy\u2014you\u2019ll be. No matter how big the opportunity appears to be, it\u2019s just not worth the maintenance involved.
    \n\t\t