My client, Susan, knew I wouldn't just hand her an answer. I'm famous for having answers for nearly every type of question my clients pose. That's what a rich full life of diverse work, travel and many interests will do for you!



But I'm also famous for posing questions... really simple, direct, to-the-point questions that shift paradigms and points of view. This was one of those days.

"What's the Value of the work for you?" I asked her.

Susan sighed before she answered. That was a tell-tale sign that she knew the work wouldn't be using her team's highest and best talent, or would be diverting them off their most productive work.

"Well, Mike's someone I've known for years, and he's known the work we do, and I don't want to say 'No!'

"And what's the value of the work for your business?" I probed.

Our conversation went back and forth several times, as Susan talked her way through the value of pleasing Mike: so that he'd speak well of her in the community, so that he'd come back when he had more substantial work that needed doing, and so on.

"So it sounds to me like he's a gnat." I proposed. "He's nice, but the work he's asking you to do is going to use more time and more resources and you'll deliver it at barely break even. You're rationalizing doing the work as if it might produce good marketing for you. At the same time it's diverting your staff's attention from much larger and profitable clients' work."

Susan got wide-eyed, startled. Not ready to label anyone that way. And then she broke out laughing and admitted it's the perfect description of the situation.

"So, what would an ideal High Payoff result be from doing the work with Mike?" I pondered out loud.

"Having him request profitable work that makes it worth our time, and leaves him feeling satisfied with the product we create for him."

"And what is the ideal minimum work effort, in dollars, you'd want to take on? "

"Well, $5,000 but he doesn't have that kind of money to spend."

So Susan trapped herself trying to please Mike and mind reading what he would or wouldn't invest in for his business's success.

"In an ideal world, how might you describe the type of clients you'd want to be doing your work with? What specific packages of services, OR what monthly retainer fees for what level of hours, would you say your best clients fall in today?

She had never thought of it this way, yet with very little effort, Susan was able to describe 3 levels in her current clients.

The top tier has her company on $50,000 per year retainer agreements. Her second tier clients are a group who typically budget $15,000 to $35,000 for her services.

From several Tier 1 customers, Susan's company makes as much as $25,000 more each with special projects during the year. The retainer relationship lets her project how much work there will be, and how many employees she needs throughout the year.

Susan's third tier clients want 20 hours of her services per month. The work is typically interspersed with the larger clients' work and keeps the workflow steady each month. And it's as profitable as the rest of the work her team delivers.

We drew it all out on her conference room white board and invited her staff in to take a look at it. They loved it! They even recommended a couple of modifications to what services would best be offered to which tier of clients. They even gave each tier a name.

And then they listed six more examples of gnats they took on and now spend too much time hand holding, sighing when the clients call. They knew they shouldn't have taken as clients in the first place and won't in the future.

As a result of drawing it all out where she could see it, Susan had a new perspective on how to speak of her firm's services when she's at conferences and out networking, how to respond to inquiries and how to word her proposals.

We're calling it her "Gnat Management System."

Moreover, her GMS is so clear that she was able to craft a reply for Mike that isn't saying "No." She'll use it for years to come.

"Mike, I'd love to help you. Let me tell you about how we do business. We have 3 packages that we offer and I'd be delighted to talk with you about which package would work best for you."

With the Gnat Management System we've put in place in her business, Susan and the rest of her team can focus on the work and the clients that really build their success.

Copyright (c) 2009 Linda Feinholz