Imagine this scene – You visit a world class surgeon, Dr. R. Bhattacharya (name changed). Instead of telling him what your problem is or allowing him to ask you questions and begin his process, you share your diagnosis with him and then tell him this is what you need to be prescribed. You also tell him how frequently he should see you. Now, what do you think Dr.Bhattacharya is going to tell you or rather do with you. The answer is obvious. He might simply tell his assistant, “Next Patient” while politely asking you to leave or if he was still feeling adventurous that day, he might ask you the question, “Who is the Doctor here?”

Does this sound familiar?

I bet it does. If you have been in this profession/industry for long, chances are you have come across multiple such patients. And the best part is, instead of saying the powerful 2 letter word “NO”, you have welcomed such patients in your business and life.

Isn’t this true?

Most practices/businesses have at least a few such clients if not many.

In the book “WHO NOT HOW”, Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy write – “Chad Willardson is the Author of Stress-Free Money and the Founder and President of Pacific Capital, a premier wealth management firm in Southern California. One particular morning in 2019, Chad received an email from a client giving a huge referral – someone who had just sold his business, netting him $100 million on top of the significant wealth he already had. Obviously, this was exciting news for Chad.

Chad started doing all sorts of homework on the guy, his business and his family background. And it so happened, they were both at the same event later that week. To Chad’s surprise, this man approached Chad and said, “Hey, you are the guy I have been looking for. We have got some big things to talk about.”

He told Chad he had met with many private wealth groups at the big Wall Street firms but felt drawn to meet with a boutique firm, where he could get more personalized advice and individual attention. They set up a Skype call for the following week.

Before the Skype call, Chad made sure he was very well prepared. He and his team were very excited about the prospect of working with this new client and his family. However, within the first five minutes of the call, Chad had some reservations, and his instinct was telling him this would be a very difficult client. The man was abrasive, condescending, and extremely high maintenance. He spent several minutes talking about all the firms he had already talked to, and all the perks and discounts they had already promised him. He gave Chad a list of demands that would be required if they were to work together.

He kept telling Chad how he and his team would have to adapt to doing things differently for him and that he would regularly tell them what to do.

This person did not want to get a doctor and then let that incredible doctor do the How. He wanted to tell the doctor what the doctor should do.

Throughout the call, Chad kept his cool. Shortly thereafter, Chad received a long email from the man filled with more demands and expectations than were covered on the Skype call.

Chad and his team knew that he was going to be an extremely difficult client but at the same time, they also knew how big this client would be for the firm and they thought they would figure out how to work with him eventually. And, if they did a great job for him, they were likely to get more ultrahigh net-worth referrals.

Their thinking went something like this, ‘We are a world class firm. Once he starts working with us and seeing how good we are, he is likely to change. He might be demanding now but he is likely to get better over time.’

Isn’t this what we all tell ourselves?

We think we can change people.

But the reality is we can never change anyone. It’s difficult to even change ourselves. This is the ultimate truth. Whiny People will always be whiny. Difficult ones will always remain difficult. It’s simply in a person’s nature (to be who they internally are) just like it’s in a scorpion’s nature to sting.

What do you think Chad did?

What would you do?

Dan and Dr. Hardy further wrote, “Chad ultimately concluded that if someone was condescending and disruptive to his team, and if they had unreasonable demands, then no amount of money would ever be worth it. He decided it was a no-go.

Chad then got on a call with this gentleman and said, ‘I really appreciate even being considered to work with you and your family. However, we feel you would be better served working with someone else.’

‘What are you talking about?’ the man replied, surprised. Quickly his shock turned to anger. This man and most like him are not used to being rejected. He was used to everyone catering to his demands and wants.

‘We appreciate this opportunity, we really do’, Chad said. ‘But we don’t feel it’s a great fit. There are companies out there that would want to do what you are looking for, and we wish you all the very best.’

The call ended awkwardly, but once he hung up, Chad felt empowered.”

I have had my Chad moments several times and each time we have said NO, we have truly felt empowered. Because we knew this was the right thing to do. We chose Right over Lucrative every single time. And the best part is that for every such NO, we have got better (not to mention bigger) rather amazing clients to work with. The universe will not deny you the joy of working with such wonderful people provided you always chose right over lucrative.