Your client list is your strategy

The clients you say no to define your work just as much as the ones you say yes to.

Whenever I have an interesting conversation with a potential client, my head immediately jumps to what value we could build with them.

But then comes the more important question: Do we have the capacity to give this client the attention they need?

Saying yes to the wrong opportunity can affect a lot more than just that one project. It can affect the quality of the work you deliver elsewhere by taking attention from current clients or stretching your team. What starts as a promising opportunity can quietly turn into a reputation risk. 

So, whenever you think of taking on a new client, pause before the automatic yes. Saying no doesn't mean you're letting an opportunity go to waste. Sometimes it means you're protecting the value you can give to the clients already trusting you.

Before your next opportunity call, I want you to do two things:

• Write down your client-fit filler: competence, capacity, realistic expectations, and a workable relationship 
• Define your capacity ceiling: how many new clients can you onboard this quarter without cutting attention from the ones you already serve?

Then run every prospect through that filter before the opportunity gets too close to a yes. If a potential client fails two or more criteria, pause. That may be the work you later wish you had declined. 

Growth means choosing the work you can deliver well.

Best, 
Anja Kreutzahler
CEO & Founder of peakleap

P.S. The clients you declined are a strategic statement of what kind of work you are willing to protect.