3 Signs It’s Time to Turn Away a Client

You want to push the envelope and take on projects that grow your business, but not every job fits the bill. Saying “yes” to the wrong ones can hurt your bottom line. There are three major signs that you should say “no” to a project:

When Personalities and Attitudes Clash

We use a prequalifying questionnaire to guide the conversation with potential clients and determine if it’s a good fit. We want discussions to feel natural, but having preset questions helps make sure all the boxes get checked. Some questions include:

1] What’s the motivation for your project? Why now?

2] Are you speaking with any other contractors? Where are you in that process?

3] Have you remodeled before? What was that experience like, and why aren’t you using the same contractor again?

4] Was there something that stood out about us that led you to reach out?

We once took on a kitchen remodel where I met with only the wife before agreeing to the project. She assured me her husband wouldn’t be involved, but a week into the project, he was there, micromanaging my team. It hurt team morale. This project comes up from time to time as a reminder to stick to our process and make sure we can work well with all parties. Had the husband answered our questionnaire, it would have quickly become obvious that it wasn’t a fit. 

When the Budget Can’t Be Reconciled

Using the questionnaire as part of every initial client meeting also helps both sides figure out if the customer’s budget and our company goals align.

When saying “no,” be upfront. Let the customer know that based on your conversations, you won’t be able to deliver the project and experience they deserve.

We take on a wide variety of projects, priced from $25K to $700K-plus, with an average of $170K. Often, it’s less about the minimum or maximum, but if we find that a customer’s budget and our ability to make a profit don’t coincide, we politely decline the project.

When the Project Will Hurt Your Workflow

Timing is critical. Depending on the scope, we’re equipped to take on three or four projects at a time and still provide the same high-caliber service to each customer. We closely monitor the overlapping schedules each day to ensure that nothing impacts our production timeline. If taking on a new project will stretch labor too thin, we decline and give them a rough timeline of when we may be able to accommodate their project.

When saying “no,” be upfront. Let the customer know that based on your conversations, you won’t be able to deliver the project and experience they deserve. It’s not easy, but people respect you when you are honest with them. If we decide the scope of work is too small for our company or is outside our expertise, we refer them to another better-suited business, if we have one in mind. If we don’t, we direct them to the NARI website.