Your Firm Doesn't Need More Clients

If the last few weeks have you looking at where you are versus where you thought you'd be, it's understandable if you're thinking that change is in the wind.

Corporate doctrine dictates that all things are possible with enough time, money, or people. And since time is against us at this point, we’re left with needing more money, or more people … which will require more money.

I wouldn’t blame you if your knee-jerk response was to look at your sales funnel and say “Ludicrous Speed! GO!” More clients will totally solve your problems. More marketing, more leads, more flowing through your pipeline. Presumably all that will lead to the money you need to meet your goals.

I can’t sit here and tell you that this is categorically wrong, because of course for many situations and firms that move is categorically correct. But that’s not the whole story, nor is it the only option in front of you in spite of what the time, money, people triangle tells you.

For most established firms, especially smaller ones, the problem is not in fact volume. It’s the nature of the volume they already have, and what they do with it.

Do you discount your services for new clients? And then discount your services for return clients? Guess what: your rate is your discounted rate. Your stated rates might be where they need to be, but if you never charge those rates you are leaving money on the table and communicating something to your clients and the market at large.

Do you have certain clients, or classes of clients, who consume a disproportionate amount of your time? Do you perhaps have too many of these clients?

Do you let the scope get away from you and end up working more than you should, or doing what needs to be done but doing it for free?

Has your firm outgrown certain services that you still provide because “that’s the way we do things?”

It might come as a surprise to hear that the fastest path to growth, and perhaps a healthier path to growth is often subtraction not addition. I only listed out a few categories here, but imagine a world where you focused on and addressed one of them for the next three months.

What would your business look like if you shed the bottom 20% of your clients? Bottom 20% by what criteria you ask? That’s a great question to explore with your trusted business advisor.

What would your business feel like?

What would happen if you raised your discounted fees to more appropriate rates? Charged for scope creep? Didn’t offer services that stray from your greater strategy?

It feels counterintuitive to think that cutting anything would lead to growth, but some of you were here for the series I did on the $25k rule last year. Focused, incremental improvements in almost any area of your business can easily amount to a notable change in profit. All those same levers apply here.

This concept tends to be a little polarizing so if you’re feeling agitated, by all means reach out and let’s have a conversation.

Know someone running a law firm, advisory practice, or accounting firm who could use a different perspective? Share this with them.