Red Flag Warning Signs That You’ve Got a Pain-in-the-A** Client on Your Hands 🚩

Let’s call it what it is: some clients are a dream, others are the reason you want to reach for wine for breakfast and boil your own head in acid for lunch….

And annoyingly, there are ALWAYS warning signs.

I get it, for many business owners, we ignore them in the pull for income – I’ve done it myself many times.

But when we ignore the tummy-tingling feeling and the screaming warning signs to follow income over sanity – we soon ish we could turn back the clock.

Here are the warning signs that you may have a NIGHTMARE customer on your tail – spot them early and save yourself the drama of commercial horror:

1. The “It’s Urgent!” Post – They blast on social media: “I need a [insert professional] ASAP. It’s URGENT.  Need it done TODAY!” … RUN AWAY from these people. These people do not plan, they have no interest or grasp of preparation and timelines. This is gonna be a situation that makes their lack of planning your emergency. Swipe along. 

2. The ‘I Don’t want it to cost an arm and a leg’ call out:  These people list out a product or service they need, but they are looking for the cheapest possible option, not the best option; and judge success by the price, not the outcome.  They will squabble and obsess over pennies, instead of impact. Move on.
   
3. The Discount Demander – Their first question isn’t about your value; it’s “Can I have a discount?” 🪫 Translation: they already don’t see the value of your offer and they’ll drain your energy and your bank account. They go deal-hopping and look for short term wins over long term results.  Now I’m not saying that people who ‘check’ if there are discounts fall into this category, that’s just good economics – I’m referring to those who EXPECT one, usually accompanied with a whole list of personal woes about their life problems and why they shouldn’t pay full price because they are ‘special’. These people usually expect special treatment for everything and think that they are more important than all of your other clients. Avoid.
   
4. The Ghost & Gas – They vanish for weeks… then reappear demanding everything yesterday. 👻 You gave them weeks to provide their part, their info or their feedback – then come back to you on the DAY of the deadline and expect you to stop everything and prioritise THEM over everything and everyone else.  Nope.
   
5. The Rude Dictator – Their emails read like they’re cross-examining you in court. ALL CAPS. Excessive punctuation!!! Speaking ‘down’ to you like you are their obedient little slave who must do exactly what they say, the way they say it. They don’t care what your offer or package is – they want it done their way and they want you to change your processes to suit them.  They speak in a dictatorial and rude manner. Not a vibe. ⚔️
   
6. The Inbox Bomber – 6 emails. 3 DMs. 2 voicemails. All in the space of an hour. They sent you an email 3 minutes ago at 3am – WHY HAVN’T YOU REPLIED YET? ‘I need to check that you got my email??’.  If they can’t respect reasonable communication times, they’re not going to respect you at all.  They are also likely to be very scatty and impulsive – lots of thoughts – everywhere – in multiple communication threads – all very disjointed and messy.  It screams ‘absolute freaking chaos’. No from me.
   
7. The Info Ignorer – They ask 4,927 questions that are already fully answered on your FAQ section, your sales page, and your pinned post. 🙃 If they can’t read the info about the thing they are buying that is right in front of them, they arent going to be very good at following the instructions required to be successful in using your product or service either. Incoming fail – run away.
   
8. The Gut Check Fail – You just feel it. Your spidey senses are tingling. When your stomach says run, listen. 🕷️
9. The ‘Free Service First’ person: the ones that expect you to do a full free consult and strategy session, AND a full audit or review of their ‘thing/website/course/business/etc‘, BEFORE they decide if they will work with you. No. You hit the payment link FIRST, THEN we start the work.
   

👉 Your reminder: you are not obligated to take every client with a pulse and a credit card. 

Protect your energy. Protect your business. Protect your sanity.

Save your love, passion and time for all of the amazing good ones <3 

Want a business coach who gets it, AND provides strategy for building and scaling a 7-figure business with the right systems, structure and marketing?

Join me in the Legends Lab: sarahcordiner.com/legends