A New Year's Resolution?

There's a joke going around the internet that goes like this:
A printer says to his client, ‘Thank you, Mr Brown, for your business. I wish I had twenty customers like you.’
'Gosh, it's nice to hear you say that, but I'm kind of surprised,’ says Mr Brown, ‘because I argue over every bill and I always pay late.’
The printer replies, ‘That’s true. But I'd still like twenty customers like you. My problem is: I have two hundred.’

How well are you monitoring your customers’ impact on profitability? How well are you tracking the time spent on each customer and the return you get from that? Is it possible you have customers you would be better off without? Why not dump them? Or at the very least give them one last chance to shape up or ship out. It's the New Year after all, and it could be the best resolution you ever made!

©2008 Jane Francis is the author of Price Yourself Right: A guide to charging what you are worth (ISBN: 0-595-38601-6) available at Barnes and Noble (USA), WH Smith (UK) or online at amazon.com