Yes, and the interesting thing is that, in all three cases, I “knew” intuitively that I should not have taken them on in the first place. They were angry alpha males with chips on their shoulders as big as Mount Olympus, pissed off that “everybody” didn’t immediately want their product or service, and called their potential clients “stupid” for not realizing the value. “EVERYBODY should want this!” they proclaimed.

Wake up call!

What customers DON’T want is to do business with angry, cranky, self-proclaimed, all capital-letters “YOU NEED THIS!!!” providers!

I discerned right away that these three were outrageous, self-involved snobs, but thought I could educate them about why potential clients were screaming for the exits.  Guess what?  Nope.  They didn’t want to hear it.

But I was at the “hungry stage” in my copy writing career and thought I needed the money. HA!  Some money costs too much.  I sent their money back and felt like a millionaire when their cranky-ass selves had to look for another provider who would do what they demanded so they could shoot themselves in the foot some more. Karma, baby!

P.S. I’ve only elected to fire three of more than three thousand clients, by the way… so that’s the good news!