What's up everyone.
Welcome back to my channel, the number one place for new coaches, content creators and
entrepreneurs.
In today's video I really wanted to talk about the telltale signs that you might have a nightmare
client on your hands.
Now if you are a service based entrepreneur, a coach, a freelancer, you know exactly what
I'm talking about.
We're talking about the clients that if you could go back in time you probably wouldn't
have said yes to actually taking them on into your business.
That's why if you are a new service for writers specifically, if you are a new coach, I really
wanted to create this video for you because I have a feeling it's going to save you a
lot of time and a lot of headache.
So if you're interested in learning my opinion on what constitutes a nightmare client, then
I want you to keep on watching.
All right, so the first telltale sign that you might have a nightmare client on your
hands is that they blamed their old coaches for their failures.
In my opinion, having self awareness and self responsibility are one of the major factors
that actually make someone successful and if you have a prospect that's been jumping
from coach to coach to coach and it's telling you that they blamed their coaches for all
of their shortcomings, then that is a huge red flag and while I agree that there might
be some coaches that simply weren't the right fit, what's important is that this client
needs to have enough maturity to understand that they also have equal ownership in their
journey to success and if they're constantly blaming other people external factors for
why they aren't successful yet, then that's probably going to be a nightmare client to
work with because it shows to you that they're not taking any responsibility for their own
journey.
Not only this, if a client cannot acknowledge key learnings or transformations that they
took from their previous coach and they say stuff like, oh, that coach didn't help me
make money, then you might want to watch out because their intentions might not be in the
right place because coaching is not just getting someone money or getting someone clients.
There are so many other transformations that happen that might not be monetary or numerical,
for example.
Maybe that coach actually helped them gain clarity.
Maybe that coach help them sharpen a skill or help them learn a new skill that they otherwise
would not have learned.
Thanks to that coach.
Maybe that coach helped them quit the nine to five maybe that coach help them with their
branding, anything like that that may not be monetary or numerical.
That's why it's really important to understand the intentions of your perspective clients
and making sure that they're signing up for you for the right reasons and that their expectations
of you are very realistic.
Now.
Speaking of expectations, the second telltale sign that you might have a perspective nightmare
client on your hands is the fact that they're looking for big results in a short period
of time.
Unrealistic clients want unrealistic results.
That's why it's really, really important to make sure you are setting boundaries and expectations
of what you can and can't do.
Trust me, especially if you are a new coach or even a new freelancer or anyone that is
in the service industry, I understand that you want to offer and promise the world to
clients.
However, that's going to cause a lot of mismatch when it comes to the end result.
If you're telling your client and you're trying to bend yourself backwards and twist yourself
everywhere to make sure that that client is hiring you by telling them, yes, I'll help
you with this, I'll help you with that and over promising, then that client's going to
end up being really disappointed and not only this, while they're working with you, they're
definitely going to be breathing down your neck and making sure that you're getting the
results that you had promised them.
That's why it's really important to be transparent in what you can and can't offer and the best
way to do that is not only to have awesome application forms that make sure you understand
what type of person is walking into your program, but also hosting sales calls, discovery calls,
consultation calls where you can actually have a talk with this person so that the level
of actually understanding what you can and can't offer is very clear from the get go.
Not only can unrealistic clients that want fast and big results going to be an issue
in your business, but also these types of clients typically look at you as their savior.
You really want to avoid clients that are looking at you as the key to success that
have a really strong codependency on you.
Especially if you notice on the sales call or the application call that they actually
have really big goals that they're turning you to get for them.
That's going to be a huge issue.
Dream clients are the ones that acknowledge that they themselves are their own saviors.
However, you as the coach, you are merely their guide.
You're giving them the roadmap, you're encouraging them on this journey, but you're not doing
the work for them.
That's why if you notice a client seems to be really desperate and they're really looking
at you to be the key and bandaid solution for all of their problems overnight, then
I recommend to you to definitely run the other way.
Not only this, I'm gonna give you a bonus tip, especially to you business coaches out
there.
You want to make sure that the clients that you're taking in already have existing skill
sets to bring to the table.
A big issue that I see is clients that come to you and expect you to teach them everything
from a to z so that they can replicate it and basically be a copy and paste version
of you.
You really want to make sure that the people that you're taking onto your business are
independently unique and all you're doing is guiding them, not teaching them every single
thing that they need to know in order to replicate it back into their own business.
That is definitely a toxic relationship and you don't want to take on clients that are
solely hiring you in order to copy you.
Now, moving onto my next telltale sign that you might have a nightmare prospective client
on your hands is that they don't respect your boundaries.
I'm talking about the people who applied to your program following up with you day in
and day out, spamming you with emails, messaging you on DM even before you've accepted them
as a client.
I've actually had this happen to me before where people who have applied to my programs
actually follow up constantly even though they know that I will get back to them in
48 hours.
That's already a huge sign that this person might be a handful and you want to decide
whether or not you want to spend time with people who don't respect your time.
Not only this, I would also caution to people who are already sending you massive proposals
on what they expect from you before you've even had a conversation with them.
You really want to pay attention to the behaviors of these prospective clients before you even
take them on because it's a huge sign of what they're going to be like when they actually
work with you and when they actually start paying you.
Now, the next sign that I have for you is super obvious, but you would be surprised
the amount of coaches that I know who do not get the message and that is perspective clients
who either go see you show up extremely late or cancel last minute to your discovery calls.
Now again, I know that this one is super obvious, but you would be surprised the amount of new
coaches who just simply let it slide.
I get it when you're just starting out.
You're just grateful that someone's signed up for your program and you want to forgive
them for ghosting you or showing up 20 minutes late to your call or even canceling one minute
before your call even starts.
However, I'm telling you right now, you are not a babysitter.
You are not coaching big babies that need to get their hand held.
You are coaching responsible adults who understand how to respect someone's time and remember
you are the expert.
People do not go see their doctors.
They don't go to their lawyers.
They don't ghost people that are important to them.
Now obviously I understand some things might come up, bad traffic, maybe someone had an
accident.
Those ones are forgivable, I get it, but those people who do not give a good excuse of why
they showed up late to your calls or why they ghosted you, nightmare client printed all
over them.
That's why you really want to respect yourself as a service provider, as an expert, and make
sure that you are very firm in your boundaries.
Have a very clear cancellation policy.
Have a very clear late policy.
For example, for me, if someone shows up 10 minutes late to a call, I'm done.
I cancel the call right away.
There's no second chances unless they have a really good excuse of why they showed up
late to the call that they had booked and that I could have prepared for weeks before.
That's why you got to make sure that you respect yourself because you cannot let your perspective
clients walk all over you.
All in all.
If I could give you one wrap-up piece of advice is that what is most important is that you
have a very crystal clear understanding of who your ideal client is.
Not only this, you also have to realize that just because someone has money and can afford
your services doesn't mean that you have to take them on as a client.
Having a really great fit is super important and also as a business owner, you can control
the experience that you had.
Don't take clients who are jerks to you.
Don't take clients who meet any of these five tips or criteria that I just listed.
Just because someone has money does not mean that you have to take them on.
That is a really big that I actually learned in my own journey that I wanted to at least
pass on to you throughout this video.
I did mention things like sales calls and all of that, and unfortunately we didn't really
dive that deep into it.
That's why I want you to hit the notification bell because in my next video, we're going
to cover all of that specifically.
I'm going to walk you through the top mistakes that I see a lot of new coaches making when
it comes to sales calls.
So if you're interested, make sure you hit that notification bell.
Also, if you like this video, make sure you smash that like button because it really does
help the channel.
In the meantime, while you wait for that video and all the goodness that comes with it, make
sure you're also checking out these two videos that I have right here.
I talk a lot about social media, coaching, entrepreneurship, all the likes of that, so
make sure you check out those two videos as well.
As always, guys, I appreciate you.
I hope you guys have a great day, a great week, and a great life, and I'll see you in
the next one.
Bye guys.