Sales success sometimes requires going in and doing what on the surface appears to be a wrong decision. I’ve advocated for a long time the importance of firing some of your customers. I say this based on the fact that every company has at least a handful of customers who cost simply way too much — they demand discounts and added services, and overall, they make far too many requests than other customers. At the end of the day, you’re not only drained from dealing with this customer, you also soon discover they’ve drained the profit right out of your company.

Whenever I share this concept, I’m met with stares and confused looks, until I have a chance to explain it fully. Now the Wall Street Journal is talking about this same principle. If you’re a small company, you need to dump those customers that are sucking the profit out of your business and your people. The easiest way to deal with this is to raise their prices. Since they won’t stop demanding your time and service, you might as well get more money for it. If they aren’t willing to pay for it, then they can go elsewhere. In essence, they’ve been fired.