What Is A Good Client?

"How do you find good clients?"

It's a question I get asked alllllllll the time. But, here's something interesting that most people don't really think about, yet it's blatantly obvious the more you think about it. 

We find what we're looking for. 

You know, there are rare occasions where you encounter surprises, but what we're looking for is usually what life will create for us. 

If I were to tell you, “I want you to look for a quarter on the ground”, and you just constantly looked for that quarter, how long do you think it would take you to find that quarter? 

It depends on how hard you look, right? But if you never started looking for the quarter in the first place, you’d never find it outside of random probability.

So how do you find good clients? 

Since this lands in the category of sales, I'm gonna talk about dating, because dating is the ultimate metaphor for sales.

Let me tell you a story…

I remember this just like it was yesterday. It was probably about two and a half years ago, probably two and a half. I had met a girl. I was really into her. We had both committed to each other and said that we didn't want to see other people. 

I felt on top of my world, and I felt like a big G…or at least I thought I was the big G.

Long story short, what ends up happening is she goes on a girl's trip, comes back from the girl's trip, breaks up with me, and says, “I think that we should take a break.”

Translation A: “I cheated on you on this girl’s trip, and I don’t want to feel bad about it”

Translation B: “My girlfriends convinced me that you’re not good for me”

I didn't know which one it was, I just ended up ending things with her, I didn’t beg for her back or say I was okay with taking a break. Still, I was hurt by that. I remember being down bad and sad while thinking about her for days after the breakup.

What stung me the most was that this wasn't the first girl who had done something like this to me. With the past 3 girls I had dated, as we started to form a deeper and deeper relationship, they would get scared. The commitment was too much. They didn't want to be in a relationship (with me), and they wanted to go back to having fun, dating, and being with their friends most of the time. 

I also started to see how I kept running into really bad behavior continuously...

This one thought it was okay to cancel dates with 30 minutes' notice. This one asked me tons of materialistic questions because she just wanted me for my money. This one would ghost me for a month and then come back into my life acting like that was ok.

And so I had to ask myself, "What about me is causing this to happen? Why am I attracting this awful behavior? Why am I attracting these girls who want to go on dates, but don’t want to get (and stay) in a committed relationship?"

And when I was really honest about it, I realized that I didn't know what type of girl I was looking for. 

It was any girl that was hot.

I had not gotten clear on what I wanted from a woman, so I was getting the attractiveness…but I wasn’t getting anything good on the behavior side of things…because I wasn’t clear on it!

Because I was not clear on who I wanted, I was just accepting anyone as that archetypal mold for that girlfriend, and then I was sadly disappointed when it ended up not working out.

You should probably have standards for who you'd like to allow into your life as a girlfriend or into your life as a significant partner, right? 

Do you want…

1. Really hot girlfriend that is a total piece of shit human being
2. Really hot girlfriend who is a CIA operative
3. Really hot girlfriend that eats bugs
4. Really hot girlfriend who is an all-around good person and cares about you

Probably D, right? Specifics matter.

So I got way more specific, and all of a sudden, when I set my sights on those traits, I'm attracting girls that have those traits. It's because, again, we attract what we're looking for and we find what we're looking for. 

The more specific you are on what you're looking for, and the longer you are looking for it, the higher the likelihood of you being able to find it. 

I'm here to tell you today, that the same thing goes for clients.

First things first, we need to figure out what we're looking for because the term “good client”...well, what does that mean? They pay you and don't ask for anything? Do they give you dry handjobs in the parking lot of a Dennys? What specifically is good? Traits? Characteristics? Actions?

We need to get specific.

When you actually set your focus towards WHAT CLIENTS YOU WANT, I think it's a lot easier to screen and filter people properly.

Shocker, I know, yet so many people act like prostitutes, they’ll work with ANYONE because they have bills to pay. (I’ve had my share of Denny’s parking lot clients, trust me, there are much better clients out there)

You can't just allow everyone through the door. 

You have to be specific with who you want to work with…and most people are sadly NOT specific. 

They say, “Well, I want to work with B2B coaches who are doing $100k a month.” 

That is the equivalent of me saying…

“I just want a really hot girlfriend.”

Maybe you're in a place where you've got enough experience to know what you like and don't like in a client. Maybe you're still figuring that out. Either way, I think every freelancer needs to go through a few shitty client experiences to learn what to avoid - it's like a rite of passage.

But to save you some time and aggravation, let me share a few key traits to look out for:

1. Avoid clients who micromanage and can't let you do your job. You want clients who can give clear feedback and direction, then step back and trust you to do what they hired you for.
2. Avoid clients who don't pay on time. The moment a client is late on a payment, you need to address it directly. Letting it slide only sets you up for more headaches down the line.
3. Avoid clients who are constantly in crisis mode. If their business is a sinking ship, there's only so much you can do to bail them out. You want clients who are stable and positioned for growth.
4. Avoid clients who don't respect your time. If they're always late to meetings or expecting you to be available 24/7, that's a bad sign. (past 5-7 minutes is late) Your time is valuable, period.
5. Avoid clients who always want more than they're willing to pay for. It's one thing to throw in a small freebie here and there. But if a client keeps asking for substantial extra work without paying, that's not okay.
6. Avoid clients who can't keep their word. If you can't trust what they say, you can't build a solid working relationship.

So here's my challenge to you - grab a piece of paper, and on one side, write out a detailed description of your nightmare client.

What traits piss you off the most?

What kind of behavior makes you want to tear your hair out?

What about them is so unenjoyable?

Then on the other side, do the same for your dream client.

What qualities do they have?

How do they communicate with you?

How do they treat you and your time?

What makes you excited to work with them?

What do they order at Dennys?

(Joking)

Take the time to flesh these out.

And once you're done...

Well, the next step is what I'll share with you in your video newsletter this week ;)

That's all I've got for today. Remember - specificity is your friend.

Get clear on your standards, and don't be afraid to hold out for clients who truly value what you bring to the table.

‍