Life is Short — Choose Your Clients Wisely
Over nearly 20 years in business, we’ve learned one fundamental truth: Life is short, so we like to work with clients who see us as partners in their success.
At Sanctuary, we’ve found we’re most successful when we work with businesses that value collaboration, trust our expertise, and see us as peers rather than just another vendor. That’s not to say there are “bad” clients. There aren’t. But there are bad fits. And when there’s a bad fit, both sides lose.
You’ve likely encountered this yourself.
What Does Partnership Look Like for Sanctuary?
Relationship-Wise
- Mutual Trust: Clients trust that the questions we ask are for their benefit, not as a way to upsell them.
- Respect for Expertise: We’re great at digital marketing, just as they’re great at what they do.
- Professionalism: Kindness, accountability, and a spirit of collaboration matter. No one on either team should feel subject to questionable behavior.
Well, occasionally Tom or I may say something a little questionable—so hopefully we all have a sense of humor as well.
Our company name, Sanctuary, reflects our commitment to being a safe, productive, and empowering place for our team, our clients, and our community.
Work-Wise
- A Strong Business Foundation: We help successful businesses grow. Unfortunately, it’s hard for us to help startups find their business model. We also can’t rescue a struggling company with hit-or-miss products, a bad reputation, or a difficult internal culture.
- Industry Considerations: Some industries are simply harder to be successful in due to a flood of entrenched national players (e.g., real estate, car dealerships, insurance). If we know the economics won’t work for them, we won’t take their money just to “see what happens.”
- Willingness to Follow the Process: The best clients give us time to run our proven research and strategy process before diving into deliverables. If they’re resistant to that, it’s a red flag.
- Respect for Our Team’s Value: If they believe a nephew or an intern can do the same work we do—just cheaper—then we’re not the right fit.
We’ve Made Mistakes—And We’ve Learned from Them
Have we taken on clients we knew weren’t a great fit? Oh yes. And it’s bitten us every single time.
In the past, during slow periods, we’ve accepted clients we suspected weren’t ideal just to keep the lights on. But growth for growth’s sake isn’t healthy. Every time we’ve taken on a misaligned client, it’s cost us more than just money—it’s risked our team’s morale, reputation, and ability to serve the right clients well.
Now, we don’t play in gray areas. If the fit isn’t there, we say no. And if we part ways with a client, we do it with as much grace and generosity as possible. I’d rather lose money than have anyone say we took advantage of them. That’s a non-starter.
How We Define Our Ideal Clients
After years of trial and error, we’ve built a detailed ideal client persona—a living document that helps us attract the businesses we’re best suited to help.
We actually have two ideal client personas. While I won’t go into all the details here, know that we tried to be exhaustive in their descriptions – basing them as a composite of our most successful collaborators over the years.
But right now I’m talking to ‘Business Owner Bob’
- Bob’s an entrepreneur. A ‘visionary’ in the context of the Entrepreneurial Operation System
- Bob’s frugal but believes in investing in areas that can deliver a proven ROI
- Bob needs a way to support his sales team with resources, may not have a lot of time dedicated to marketing, doesn’t have a marketing team, and is aware of digital marketing but doesn’t have a lot of experience with it outside of his website and some tests that were unsuccessful in the past.
- Bob wants to GROW his business.
- He believes creating revenue will create jobs that will impact his community positively—while affording him the opportunity to continue to do what he loves and be rewarded along with the success of his company.
- Bob’s highest priorities are lead generation and revenue growth. He has a good handle on his sales process and knows how to close deals if he gets quality leads in the pipeline.
For Sanctuary here’s what that looks like in action:
- We’ve refined who we market to and how we qualify leads.
- If a prospect isn’t a fit, we leverage our strong referral network to connect them with someone better suited to their needs.
- We’re always happy to have an initial conversation to assess fit—and even if we aren’t the right match, we still try to provide value and point them in the right direction.
The Benefits of Saying No (So We Can Say Yes to the Right Clients)
Saying no has stabilized our recurring revenue model. With the right clients, we’ve built strong, long-term relationships—leading to high renewal rates, reliable revenue, and more strategic growth.
This approach also protects our team. One of our core business rules is that no single client should represent more than 7% of our revenue. When one client controls too much of our recurring revenue, the pressure to keep them happy can lead to compromised decisions – for them and for us. We want to keep our integrity and our ability to give the best recommendations for growth—not just do whatever it takes to keep a big client satisfied in the short term.
Handling Existing Clients Who Aren’t a Fit
If you’re struggling with this, on your end. Here’s an approach we’ve used:
- Prioritize which relationships to address first. If you have multiple misaligned clients, focus on the ones creating the most friction.
- Plan your transition carefully. Breaking up with a client before your business can financially handle it isn’t wise. Use forecasting models to plan your exit strategy.
- Have an honest conversation. We’ve found that the best way to part ways is to explain that the fit just isn’t right. It’s not their fault—it’s about what we can (and cannot) effectively deliver for them.
Give them a smooth off-ramp. Provide plenty of notice, offer recommendations for better-suited partners, and maintain professionalism.
Believe it or not, we’ve successfully exited clients who later thanked us and would end up recommending us to someone else who was a better match. They knew what we were good at and that we didn’t make promises we couldn’t keep.
Lessons We’ve Learned the Hard Way
Avoiding emotion is key. I’ve been guilty of reacting too quickly, especially when defending my team. It’s something I struggle with daily. But when I’m in my best mindset, I’ve learned that emotional decisions rarely lead to good outcomes. Now, we focus on business rules and structured team discussions to make the best call for the company’s long-term health.
At the end of the day, a bad client fit isn’t a failure—it’s a lesson. And the more we’ve refined our approach, the more we’ve been able to build Sanctuary into exactly what we always wanted it to be: a place where great people do great work for great businesses.
And that’s a win for everyone.