In a previous RainToday article, Power of the Marketing Pyramid, John Doerr makes a strong case that not all clients are equal. He wisely suggests that we concentrate our marketing efforts on the clients who are most profitable.

I heartily agree. But I believe his logic works in the opposite direction as well. At the other side of the profitability bell curve is that pool of clients who drain our time, talent and energy, clients so enervating that they are not only not profitable, they represent real losses in money and momentum.

I call these potential clients the Pain-In-The-Assets or PITA Prospects. Fortunately, you can frequently identify them within the first ten minutes of conversation. While the following observations may be drawn from the field of marketing consulting, I’m sure you’ll recognize (perhaps with a sigh) some of the tell-tale danger signals all professional service providers inevitably cross in their careers.

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