Last Tuesday I fired a client.
She'd been with me sixteen months. Paying $3,000 a month. On paper, one of my "best" clients. In reality, every Wednesday session left me with a headache that lasted until Friday.
Every call, same pattern: I'd suggest something. She'd have a reason it wouldn't work. I'd suggest something else. Same reason. By month four I was walking into calls already exhausted. By month twelve I was rescheduling twice a month.
What finally cracked me wasn't the pattern. It was Sunday night three weeks ago — my kid asked why I was staring at my calendar looking like someone died. I opened it and pointed at Wednesday. He said, "Mom just move her off Wednesday." I said, "It's not the day."
I sent the offboarding email the next morning.
Here's the lesson, and it's not the one you think. It's not "fire your worst client." Everyone in coaching says that. Half of them are lying about actually doing it.
The lesson is that I told myself for TWELVE MONTHS that I was choosing to keep her. That I could "handle it." That the money made it worth it. That's not choice. That's a story I was telling myself to avoid a hard conversation.
The actual choice took me six minutes and one email.
Six minutes, $36,000 a year, and my Wednesdays back.
If you're carrying a client — or a project, or a commitment — that leaves you with a Wednesday headache: the choice takes less time than the story you're telling yourself to keep it.
Reply and tell me who's on your Wednesday. I read every one.
— Mira
P.S. I replaced her with two new clients within nine days. Not the point of the story, but worth knowing.
Story-driven emails are the highest-value emails in a consulting business. They're also the hardest to write. That's what I do.
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