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One commonly-heard axiom of business is 'Any paying customer is a good customer'. This is similar in principle to the adage 'There's no such thing as bad publicity'. But for a business owner looking to expand his business, this is simply not the case! As strange as it sounds, you need to select your own customers from the pool of potentials. Not every person wishing to use your services or buy your product is a desirable customer.

Sometimes people who are just starting a new business fall into an old trap. Since their initial cash flow is limited, they willingly accept money from anyone who wants to pay. Unfortunately, this can be a quick way to destroy your business without it ever having a chance. Most people condemn manipulative, misleading business owners for coercing people into buying from them and know this isn't a good way to run a business. But, on the other side of the coin, some business owners seem to lose their rationality when offered money from any willing customer, no matter who they are. A smart business owner will turn down business from undesirable customers knowing that the long-term success of his business rests on sound decision-making.

You may wonder if it is really a good idea for your company to be selective about whom they do business with. There are some instances where it is definitely a plus to choose your customers quickly. As an example, there is a group of potential customers who will try to purchase your services even when they know that they can't afford them. If you allow them to do so, you may end up having to spend a great deal of time and expense on trying to collect the money owed your company, even having to turn the customer over to a collection agency. This is hardly good for a business. Yet there are many businesses who will take just such risk. The banking industry is an excellent example of what can happen when dealing with customers who can't afford their purchases. The 2007-2008 downturn in the economy was caused largely by the banking industry, which issued mortgages to customers who could not afford them.

Believe it or not there is one group of paying customers that you would be best not to do business with. These are the constant complainers who are never satisfied. You can usually pick out these customers because they are very vocal and will tell you about problems they have had with other companies. Even though they have the financial means to pay you the headaches that you will experience is not worth the effort. The idea is to be aware of these people and you will gradually learn how to weed them out of your customer base. One way of doing this is to find out if they have a legitimate complaint against another company. If you know the company they are complaining about has a good reputation then it is probably best to avoid these people. Once they purchase something they are always complaining about it and you will probably be on their bad list with your competitors also.

The above consumer groups are simple for business to ignore, however, another segment of the customer base that must also be passed on are those customers whose needs are not met by your products or services. In general, businesses tend to believe that it is a customer's prerogative to determine what to buy and the business will simply sell as much as possible to any buyer that deems their product worth purchasing. This behavior is near sighted and does not help with the growth of your business. If a customer buys something and is not happy with it, they are likely to place blame on the business that has sold this product to them. In the long run it is far more beneficial to tell a customer that your product may not meet their needs and expectations than to make a sale that will disappoint your customer. If you simply describe your offerings without trying to over sell it with hype this situation can generally be avoided. Inform your customer to the best of your ability what it is that you are offering and let them make an informed decision. If you are able to discuss a customers needs rather than the advantages of a given product you will be more easily able to match your offerings to the needs of the customer. In this situation it is not uncommon to find that another product or service that you have to offer may be more beneficial to the customer. It is also possible that you may determine that you can't meet the customer's needs at all. In cases where you can't satisfy a customers needs a referral to another provider is often the best solution. You will find that this builds consumer confidence and often leads to sales in the future when the customer's need is more matched to your product.