The Math Says Fire That Client
Our guest expert today is Mike Verrill. Mike is a Strategic Business and M&A Advisor to entrepreneurs and owners of privately held businesses.
You’re sitting at your desk, staring at a list of your clients.
Some names bring a sense of pride—your best, most profitable relationships.
Others bring headache after headache.
But don’t go reaching for the Tylenol just yet.
You just need to confirm what makes a client ideal, and thankfully, the answer may be closer than you think with these insights from Mike Verrill.
When working with a marketing expert to build out your marketing plan, a quality professional will ask you to define your Ideal Client Profile (ICP).
Which makes sense.
If you are going to build content and strategy around attracting your best clients, it would be a good idea to understand what they look like.
I would offer that your financial information is a perfect place to start.
Of course, you have data.
Breaking out your client list by top-line revenue will help identify those clients that make up the bulk of your revenue.
So, start looking at multi-year trends to learn more.
Year-over-year growth is a good indicator of the quality of a client and certainly tenure.
Parse through the expenses you’ve recorded for each client.
A client might make a better ICP if they are more profitable, even if the revenue is less.
And ideally, you are able to calculate a lifetime value (LTV) by the client.
Ultimately, this should be the metric you use to measure which types of clients you want to add more of, and also those you would like to avoid.
Or break down the financial data even further.
How much revenue comes from a typical industry vertical might also be helpful information for developing the profile.
Top-line revenue can be deceiving, so looking at additional information might paint a more complete picture.
Growing your business with a well-thought-out sales and marketing approach makes sense.
Understanding the underlying financial metrics is a just as important part of making these decisions.
Confirming what you think you know about your business and your customers with the analytics of the financials to back it up will help you drive consistent value to the bottom line.
Sometimes, the numbers make the tough decisions for you—like when it’s time to fire that client.
Mike Verrill can help you dig into your financials and uncover exactly which clients are fueling your business—and which ones are dragging you down.
Get started on the financial leg of finding your ideal client today—analyze your financials with Mike.
P.S. Once you know your ideal client, you need the right messaging to attract them. Our Messaging Framework ensures you reach the right people with the right message.
Guest Author: Mike Verrill
