Firing Clients - Sarah Thelen - S. Thelen Construction

Floor Academy - Helping flooring, tile and stone contractors own an asset

How do you deal with pushy clients? How do you handle them controlling the project, materials, schedule, etc? Are you not the professional? What happens when trust is lost or not established? Sometimes you just have to fire your client and there is nothing wrong with that. Contracts have natural breaking points in them for a reason and it is ok to use them.
Sarah Thelen came up as a finish carpenter before moving into doing remodels under her company S. Thelen Construction in 2017. She is also CTI #1848 as of December 2022. Her experience in a male dominated industry led her to make sure her clients were comfortable with not only the work being done but herself as well. Her passion for bringing crazy ideas to life has helped build her brand while allowing her house the knowledge of technical specifications to make the end results successful.
Recently, Sarah found herself on a project with a repeat client that was constantly deferring to the designer. This situation strained her relationship with the homeowners. Laying out the situation led to making compromises she was not happy with and ultimately she had to make the decision to fire the client instead of continuing to work in an environment where she was not appreciated for what she was bring to the table.
This week on Floor Academy, Sarah and I discuss why we need to fire clients, what makes it hard, what the rewards of doing so are, and how this can help you actually grow your business.
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