Ditch the D's - They're Holding You Back

So "Ditching the D's" is a topic I have covered a few times over the past couple of years, however I really wanted to revisit this as it has really resonated with so many of my Bookwiz Academy Members.

I was so pleased to read a post from one of our members recently, where she shared that she had all of her lodgements completely done …early. 

Round of applause please!  

Yes, early lodgement is worthy of celebration, though it was ‘how’ she managed to achieve this that I was really excited about. 

I knew that previous lodgement periods had been a real struggle for her. She had been stressed, overworked and frustrated that clients weren’t valuing her or respecting her guidance, her deadlines or her boundaries. 

So, what changed?   

She recognised that some of her clients were dragging her, and her business, down. And she finally let them go. In her words – ‘‘Boom 💥. Sorted 🤩’’ 

When you have D-class clients (those who are not the right fit for your business), the 80/20 rule often applies... 

These clients (say 20% of your total clients) end up taking up 80% of your time, contribute to 80% of your stress, cause 80% of your sleepless nights, and sap 80% of your energy (very technical calculation there!). 

And they often lead to you thinking things like ‘how did I end up here’, or ‘why am even I doing this’, or ‘I didn’t sign up for this’. 

Don't let D-class clients get the better of you. Don’t let them affect how you feel about your business, or yourself. They’re literally not worth it! 

I know this, because I did exactly that. I found myself at a point in my business where I was drowning. I was stressed, overwhelmed, and I actually started to resent my business. I legitimately considered packing it all in and going back to being an employee. I just couldn’t cope with these demanding clients and the feeling of overwhelm anymore. The constant after-hours work trying to keep them happy, the lack of respect and boundaries, the way they treated my team – I felt under attack. 

I want to point out, it wasn’t all of my clients; in fact, a good majority of my clients were...and still are.... amazing. 

But the impact that the D clients were having on me, and my business was HUGE. They were affecting my ability to service my awesome clients in the way they deserved – the ones I loved working with, who respected and valued me and my team. These great clients were the type of clients I had in mind when I started my business, though I was so caught up in dealing with the D’s, I was neglecting them. But the worst part, was that the D’s were also affecting my team and the morale around the office. Let’s face it, if I didn’t want to work with them, how could I expect my team to? I definitely didn’t want to be losing valuable employees due to a few crappy clients! 

I imagined what my business and my life would look like if I was only servicing clients who I loved working with, and who respected and valued me, my team, and my business. It would be a game changer (and it was!). 

I had to draw a line in the sand and commit to the solution.... 

Ditch the D’s! 

Now, it of course wasn’t that simple. I needed to properly understand a few things, like:

• How was I defining D-class clients? 
• What characteristics made some clients an A or B, some a C, and others a D?
• How could I effectively manage the D's out of the business?
• What changes did I need to put in place to make sure I only onboarded A's and B's in the future, and identified and avoided the D's early on.
• Where did my other (non-D) clients sit? Were they A,B,C, or D?
• If I wasn’t tied up with Ds, how could I optimise the A's and B's, and lift the C’s? Or even better - make space for some new A’s and B’s! 

Once I worked through this, I set out an action plan to:

• Disengage the D’s
• Reprice a number of other clients (effectively lifting the value of the C's)
• Offer my A's and B's more value (and more premium packages)

The result... I increased my revenue significantly. With less clients (and definitely less headaches!). 

As I said in my response to the Bookwiz Academy member mentioned at the start of this post...

“Less clients.... more revenue, more profit, more time.... It's achievable!!” 

This process – of identifying, managing and optimising clients based on their A-D ranking is what I cover in my ‘Ditching the D’s’ Module with Bookwiz Academy Members, so they too can build a client base that is 100% worthy of them, and who contributes positively to their business, rather than draining it.

And whilst this is going to be valuable information to those with a more established bookkeeping business, it’s also a great resource for those just starting out, as this will help you understand and avoid D’s from the get-go. 

In our learning module for this topic I share with my members the 4 R's:

• Red Light, Green Light: How to identify a D-class client & What Makes an A?
• Ranking: How to Analyse Your Existing Clients A-D
• Revenue: How to Set Anti-D Minimum Fees and Pricing Strategies 
• Repricing: How to approach repricing existing clients including moving low fee clients up to your minimum fee per month. 

If you're a Bookwiz Academy Member - head to the "Client, Scope & Fee Review" Module for toolkits and resources that will help you manage D-Class clients, including:

• Academy Insights with Martine Hoosen
• Revenue and Capacity Planner
• Scope Creep Checklist
• Disengaging D-Class Client Toolkit, including a Handover Letter Template
• Fee Reviews and Increases Toolkit, including a Fee Review Checklist
• Live Q&A Recording - Scope Creep, Fee Reviews & D-class Clients.