How Turning Down Work Makes You More Money
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could do less work and make more money? You can… and no, it’s not magic! Here are some legitimate reasons why doing less is the key to successful business.
You can make more money from your current clients
Can you say with certainty that you’ve unlocked the full potential of your current clients? Are they giving you every bit of budget that could be made available to you? Chances are, you’re getting around 20% of the work that you could be. Growing accounts takes time and genuine relationships, and doing one project and moving on to new business is a bad use of your resources and energy. Take the time to truly understand your clients. Provide value for them without expecting anything in return and go above and beyond. Show them with action how much you appreciate the opportunity to work on their brand. In the long run, you’ll wow them so much with your work that your £100k activation can turn into a million pound retainer.
Quality work breeds quality referrals
When you focus your energy into growing your accounts, as a bi-product you focus on creating truly amazing work that you’re proud of. There is no better way to get referrals for new business. Not only do you have case studies of the fantastic things you’ve done, you also have the right people singing your praises. The client that you worked so hard to please will become your advocate amongst their peers in other brands.
Your energy is limited
We only have a limited amount of time, energy and resource that we can put into things each day. New business is time consuming, and often is unsuccessful. You can spend weeks working on a pitch with a 20% chance of winning. Meanwhile, your golden star client is getting frustrated with you because you’re not delivering what you promised. Treat new business the same way you do live projects. Do you have time to put 100% effort into it? Do you have a team that has enough resource to work on it successfully? Are you sure the amount of energy required is equal to the payoff?
You’re not good at everything
Just because you get an opportunity to take on a new project, doesn’t mean you have to say yes. So often, the offer of money distracts us from objectively looking at the situation. Is this job your expertise? Can you deliver it with your current team? Will you have to outsource 90% of it? Some of the most successful agencies own their niche with pride, and to do that, they turn down work that they know they can’t nail – resulting in building even more credibility with clients by recommending partners of a better fit.
Whilst the title of this article was slightly in the realm of click bait, the principle is true. Whilst all success takes hard work, saying no to new clients can give you the time and space to truly nail your existing business, which in the long run will always make you more money.
Still don’t believe me? Try saying no just once and watch how you blossom from it.
