FMF #11 - The Blowfly Principle: Identifying Bad Clients


I don’t care what type of business you have, or how good your customer service is, you’re going to eventually have a few difficult clients, the ones that make you want to stay in bed on a Monday morning and not go to work. 

And worst of all, they will think their behaviour is perfectly normal and acceptable, not realising they're complete tools.

Bad Client Traits

You need to learn that most difficult clients – actually let’s call them what they are, “bad clients” – exhibit the same traits.

See if any of the following sound familiar to you:

  • They complain about your prices
  • They’re rude and stubborn
  • They’re always requesting discounts
  • If you give them an account they always pay late

You know the clients I’m talking about. We’ve all had them and your business will continue to have them, unless you limit your exposure to them.

Indentify Blowflies Early  

You need to identify them early and get rid of them as soon as possible. Getting rid of bad clients frees up your time to see more good clients and it makes your whole work environment far more pleasant.

My brother is a Dentist and we refer to Bad Clients as Blowflies, and together we have come up with a term called The Blowfly Principle.

Now this may sound a little crude, but it fits perfect for these types of clients.

Let’s say you’re standing in your front yard talking to your neighbour and you notice dog poop on your foot- path. Nothing-unusual there, and suddenly a blow fly passes in front of you and lands on the dog poop.

Of course you keep talking and think nothing of it, but then all of a sudden something else flies past your face! What do you think it was?

  • Was it a bird? No!
  • Was it a plane? No!
  • Was it another blowfly? Yes, because blowflies attract more blowflies!

Blowflies Attract More Blowflies

Bad Clients are similar to blowflies, because Bad Clients will attract more Bad Clients, because people associate socially with people who are similar to them.

They’ll talk about the weather, which movies they’ve seen and which services they like and dislike. Bad Clients, if you keep them, will tell all their friends that you are the best business in the world because: 

  • They can arrive late and you never complain about it, which is perfect if the midday movie runs over the scheduled time.
  • They can cancel on the day without any penalty, which is important if the girls at the local club decide to meet for coffee and cake at the last minute.
  • If they decide not to attend at all because something better came up there is no penalty, which is perfect for those days when they just couldn’t be bothered picking up the telephone and letting someone know they’re not coming
  • And here’s the best one – If they complain about your fees you will give them an immediate 10% discount, which is great because booze and cigarettes are getting expensive.

Must Play By Your Rules

Do you really need to have these types of clients in your business, or would you prefer they visited your opposition? I have politely removed many clients from my past businesses and I make no apologies for this.

It’s my business and therefore everyone must play by my rules.

Of course Bad Clients, or blowflies, are a very small percentage of your total clientele and the majority of people will be a pleasure to work with, however it comes back to the type of business you want to have and how strict you are with discounts and accounts.

Remember...blowflies love a good discount and accounts.

The Blowfly Principle has been taken from Chapter 6 of It’s No Secret There’s Money in Small Business and the rest of the chapter talks about: 

  • Identifying your ideal client and target market
  • Attracting the right client
  • Breaking your clients into A, B, C and D Categories

I’ll leave you with this quote, which I believe is quite fitting for this artilce and podcast blog. 

“You can’t make everyone happy, you’re not a pizza.”

Power of Positivity

If you have any questions please email me at tf@tysonfranklin.com

If you have purchased and read my book I'd like to thank you. If you're still sitting on the fence and you're not sure if this book is for you, you can download the first 16 pages FREE. 

And just before you go I'd like to make you aware of my There's Money in Small Business event being held in Cairns on the 17th - 18th August 2018. 


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