Most organisations gleefully agree to work with every single customer who walks in through their doors. This approach, believe me, could be life-threatening to the organisation.

Choosing your customers carefully and diligently is one of the most critical business decisions you can make. A commercially win-win deal is not the only factor you must consider while choosing a customer. The more important factor is whether the customer can “intellectually engage” with your organisation and help it learn, improve and grow. The value that your organisation will gain from such a customer will most certainly work out to be exponentially higher than the commercial value of the contract with that customer.

A great customer can not only help chart your organisation’s path to growth and progress, but also increase the competency levels of your team and motivate them to achieve greater performances. On the other hand, a customer whose only objective is to get the “maximum bang for his buck” can leave your organisation bleeding and your team feeling frustrated and demoralized.

So have the courage to say no. CHOOSE YOUR CUSTOMERS!