Not every prospect is the right prospect. The most successful businesses learn to focus their energy on clients who are the best fit. Those are the businesses that bring profitability and align with values. They should also help drive sustainable growth. Chasing every lead may keep you busy, but it rarely helps you scale in the right direction.
So how do you identify which clients are the right ones for your business, and which ones you should politely decline?
Start with your sweet spot
The first step is to look at your current client base and identify which clients you love working with.
It’s rarely just about turnover or industry. Fit is often about attitude, culture and the way the other business owner operates. Size and profitability matter too. But business owners shouldn’t underestimate the importance of working with people who share their values and respect their process.
It’s also worth looking closely at profitability by client. Some customers generate healthy margins with little effort. Others drain resources. Ranking your existing clients against criteria like profitability, culture, and working relationship helps to build a clear picture of the ‘sweet spot.’ This is the type of client businesses want more of.
Use a bid/no-bid process to identify your best-fit clients
When inquiries come in, it’s tempting to go after everything. But winning new work often requires significant investment of time and resources. When businesses have to invest lots of time in tenders or lengthy proposals, they can’t afford to treat all opportunities equally.
That’s where a bid/no-bid process comes in. This involves scoring opportunities against a set of criteria such as:
- Service fit: Are they looking for your best services, or something that only partly aligns with your strengths?
- Geography: Are they based in regions you can serve efficiently? For example, you might score local projects highest, and reduce points the further the work takes you from your base.
- Financial health: Do they have a solid credit rating and track record of paying on time?
- Size and significance: Will your work make a meaningful impact for them, or are you a minor player in a much bigger package?
- Competition: Are you replacing a long-term incumbent, or do you have a genuine chance of winning?
The goal isn’t to say yes to everything. It’s to say yes to the right things. That way, your team spends time where you have the highest chance of success and the best chance of building profitable, long-term relationships.
This process works best when you have a strong pipeline. Every business should aim for more inquiries than it can handle. That way, you can afford to be selective and turn away work that doesn’t fit.
Learn from the wins (and losses)
Earlier in my career, when I was running a £30 million facilities management business, I invested time in understanding why we lost bids. Feedback showed we were missing things that should have been obvious in our documentation. It was a lesson in paying attention to the details.
But I soon realised even greater value came from spending more time with the clients we wanted to win, understanding what they really wanted, and tailoring our approach accordingly.
The results spoke for themselves. In one year, we bid for six contracts and won five. Within two years, that business doubled in size, from £30 million to £60 million.
The turning point was focus. We choose carefully where to invest our efforts and aligned tightly with the clients we were best placed to serve.
Build accountability into the relationship
Another hallmark of best-fit clients is that they value structure and accountability. In fast-growing businesses, owners can’t and shouldn’t shoulder every responsibility. Success depends on having the right people in place. They need clear KPIs that are measured against the right business metrics.
When a client understands this need – and welcomes external accountability to keep them on track – it’s a strong sign they’ll be a good fit for a long-term partnership.
Become a feared competitor
The ultimate goal of client fit is market position. When you consistently win the right type of work, competitors start to think twice about bidding against you. Your reputation builds not because you chase everything, but because you win what matters.
That doesn’t mean ignoring smaller or less profitable clients altogether. There can still be value in helping those you enjoy working with. But if you want to scale, you need to be deliberate.
Identify your sweet spot, put every inquiry through a clear bid/no-bid filter and invest your energy in becoming indispensable to the clients who will help you grow.
