I left a meeting recently and the comment that came out from the person on the other side of the table was “Is The Juice Worth the Squeeze”. Not even two days after this statement I heard it again in a meeting on the very same topic. We often in business want to grow the revenue base…….drive margins up…and have a healthy balance sheet. However, at what lengths do we want to go to make that all happen? This all applies to the areas in are life where we put the most effort for the least amount of reward. However, defining what that reward is can be different for everyone.

Here is an example that could cause your mind to see things differently. You have an opportunity to bring a new client aboard the ship. The new revenue is good, but nothing out of control. As you begin learning about the client you see several flaws that are big. The biggest being this client is going to exhaust your people and often not be respectful to them. The client is very high maintenance and has no respect for your people……..the client simply has caused stress to your subordinates they should never have to deal with. Sure, your company is bringing in some dollars from the account, however when you evaluate all the negative factors is the juice worth the squeeze? I say no.

I will tell you many reasons why it is best to avoid a client like the one I described above. The first answer is very simple – protect your own people first!
· Your employees deserve respect – even a client must be respectful even if they are not happy with the services
· Your employees have plenty of stress outside of work- They will endure stress at work, however if you can help avoid it why wouldn’t you
· Make sure this crazy client understands expectations they have to agree to up front on and sign off on – this is a great protective measure if you have the guts to take them on
· Horrible clients are like having a horrible boss – the cascading affect is bad- loss of employee retention….morale…and often employees become faced with health issues from an experience like this one
My end game, evaluate who you take on as a client! Don’t just see dollar signs….in fact, see past that. Look at the clients track record with other vendors. Have they switched vendors at a high frequency in a short period of time? If so, you may have begun the answer to your discovery synopsis.
The health of your employees often depends on the health of the situations you put them in….resulting in the health of the business. Make sure all of these areas match up on some level to align a healthy beating pulse.