Now, if you find yourself with a car that's shaping up to be a lemon, do you nurse that car endlessly, or do you eventually realize you're in a situation of diminishing returns? Sometimes the most economically feasible thing is to dump the clunker and move on, right?

But that's cars. What about people? Isn't it important to invest our very best in every single person we dea

Here's a secret -- check your client list.

Got customers who often call you in the middle of the

night with emergencies (real or imagined)?

Or demand you work every weekend to keep their rocks

out of the fire?

Or consistently pay late, though they refuse to wait

for your services?

Well, here's the executive summary: troublesome clients will -- if you let them -- account for a disproportionately large part of your workload and emotional strain.

Meanwhile, they'll account for a surprisingly small proportion of your profits. The 80/20 rule says that 20% of your clients will be the source of 80% of your profits, and vice versa. Guess which side those problem clients are lined up on?

This means you're probably spending more than three-fourths of your time servicing hard-to-please, money-draining customers who are unlikely ever to contribute to your retirement (may even be interfering with it). Furthermore, they are also draining away energy you could be directing to more appreciative customers. So what do you need the problem clients for?

Short answer: think about it.

Of course, we've heard all the marketing gurus tell us that we MUST give top-notch, world-class service to our clients... that our business is all about our customers... that it's important for us to feel genuine loving concern for every one of those with whom we do business.

If we don't, they say, our business is headed for the scrapheap while other, more caring professionals will zoom right past us.

Well, they're right, but let's call a brief time out and take a closer look at this advice.

First, without taking sides one way or the other, let's acknowledge that some clients, like some autos, require more maintenance than others do.

Now, if you find yourself with a car that's shaping up to be a lemon, do you nurse that car endlessly, or do you eventually realize you're in a situation of diminishing returns? Sometimes the most economically feasible thing is to dump the clunker and move on, right?

But that's cars. What about people? Isn't it important to invest our very best in every single person we deal

Well, here's the executive summary: troublesome clients will -- if you let them -- account for a disproportionately large part of your workload and emotional strain.

Meanwhile, they'll account for a surprisingly small proportion of your profits. The 80/20 rule says that 20% of your clients will be the source of 80% of your profits, and vice versa. Guess which side those problem clients are lined up on?

This means you're probably spending more than three-fourths of your time servicing hard-to-please, money-draining customers who are unlikely ever to contribute to your retirement (may even be interfering with it). Furthermore, they are also draining away energy you could be directing to more appreciative customers. So what do you need the problem clients for?

Short answer: think about it.

Of course, we've heard all the marketing gurus tell us that we MUST give top-notch, world-class service to our clients... that our business is all about our customers... that it's important for us to feel genuine loving concern for every one of those with whom we do business.

If we don't, they say, our business is headed for the scrapheap while other, more caring professionals will zoom right past us.

Well, they're right, but let's call a brief time out and take a closer look at this advice.

First, without taking sides one way or the other, let's acknowledge that some clients, like some autos, require more maintenance than others do.

Now, if you find yourself with a car that's shaping up to be a lemon, do you nurse that car endlessly, or do you eventually realize you're in a situation of diminishing returns? Sometimes the most economically feasible thing is to dump the clunker and move on, right?

But that's cars. What about people? Isn't it important to invest our very best in every single person we dea

Short answer: think about it.

Of course, we've heard all the marketing gurus tell us that we MUST give top-notch, world-class service to our clients... that our business is all about our customers... that it's important for us to feel genuine loving concern for every one of those with whom we do business.

If we don't, they say, our business is headed for the scrapheap while other, more caring professionals will zoom right past us.

Well, they're right, but let's call a brief time out and take a closer look at this advice.

First, without taking sides one way or the other, let's acknowledge that some clients, like some autos, require more maintenance than others do.

Now, if you find yourself with a car that's shaping up to be a lemon, do you nurse that car endlessly, or do you eventually realize you're in a situation of diminishing returns? Sometimes the most economically feasible thing is to dump the clunker and move on, right?

But that's cars. What about people? Isn't it important to invest our very best in every single person we dea

If we don't, they say, our business is headed for the scrapheap while other, more caring professionals will zoom right past us.

Well, they're right, but let's call a brief time out and take a closer look at this advice.

First, without taking sides one way or the other, let's acknowledge that some clients, like some autos, require more maintenance than others do.

Now, if you find yourself with a car that's shaping up to be a lemon, do you nurse that car endlessly, or do you eventually realize you're in a situation of diminishing returns? Sometimes the most economically feasible thing is to dump the clunker and move on, right?

But that's cars. What about people? Isn't it important to invest our very best in every single person we dea

Now, if you find yourself with a car that's shaping up to be a lemon, do you nurse that car endlessly, or do you eventually realize you're in a situation of diminishing returns? Sometimes the most economically feasible thing is to dump the clunker and move on, right?

But that's cars. What about people? Isn't it important to invest our very best in every single person we deal with in life? Aren't we supposed to treasure others and seek to see in them the highest potential possible?

After all, if you've been reading my lessons for a while, you know that I'm the guy who says that with the right mental attitude you can change anything to your favor. So how can I now be going on about difficult clients, and about dumping problems and moving on?

Okay, we're still in time out, so let's dig into this.

Let's go back to why you're in business. I assume you have a mission statement, or something resembling one. And that mission statement probably says something like you're "helping clients solve a particular type of problem, and thereby making their world a better place for them." Does that pretty well sum up why you're in business?

If you're nodding your head yes, you're wrong.

You're in business to make YOUR life better, and the life of those you're emotionally close to. You're doing this for a profit. YOUR profit.

OLD CHINESE PROVERB: No profit, no point.

The improvement you bring to your clients' lives is your STRATEGY for buying improvements in your own life.

That mission statement is HOW you've chosen to make your profits. It's HOW you're going about deserving the pay that you want to receive from other people. Not why.

Of course, you won't receive YOUR profits unless you're providing good, solid, honest value to others. You've got to give value to receive value.

Then why do so many people in business think it's necessary to give value patiently, endlessly, while failing to insist on receiving equal value in return? The truth is, if you're in a relationship with a client who consistently takes more than he gives, you're dealing with a swindler. An unwitting thief perhaps, but a thief nonetheless. And you're unthinkingly abetting that theft of your own services.