Have you ever had a prospect meeting, just to walk out of it feeling like your prospect just wiped his or her feet on you? Have you ever come in to an enrollment meeting, just to discover that the process was not only unpleasant, but a giant waste of your time? I know I have.

What would it be like to have a filter in place that could prevent you from going down that painful rabbit hole again?

David Newman’s “Do it! Marketing” book has given me the inspiration to adopt not just one, but 5 filters. Feel free to borrow, steal, and improve upon these. Oh, and if you have anything at all to do with marketing (doing it, avoiding it, hating it, being frustrated by the black hole that is the marketing budget), get David’s book.

Here are 5 signs that you might consider wrapping up that prospect or client meeting early and running, not walking, to the nearest exit.

  1. Bargaining on the fee / price without expecting a corresponding reduction in terms, value, or services offered. Expecting a discount “just because” is an indication of more things to come. How hard do you want to work to get this one?
  2. Undervaluing, putting down, or minimizing the value that you deliver. This is a cult classic: “Oh, this stuff is easy! I could do it myself with my eyes closed, I just can’t be bothered.”
  3. Telling you up-front: “We are notoriously difficult to work with / picky / challenging,” or “We have worked with several other advisors on this and have not been happy.” A lot of clients have a bad experience (or two) in their history; however, if you are faced with someone who has worked with a dozen of advisors and has nothing good to say about any of them, run!
  4. Using false terms of endearment. This one is my personal pet peeve. “Honey”, “my dear”, “big guy”, or “sweetheart” make me cringe.
  5. Agreeing to sign on, just to back out at the last minute (or the next day), citing a sudden burning desire to inspect your college diploma, birth certificate, vaccination records, blood type, and astrological sign. An early warning sign of this is excessive use of fear-based questions that fixate on guarantees, warranties, all things that would possibly go wrong, insignificant details, and metrics that don’t really matter. A healthy risk-based approach is one thing, but an open distrust and fear of shadows is a bag of worms that is bound to explode in your face – and that’s never pretty.

If the “client courting” process is so painful it makes you grind your teeth, consider this:

If the dating doesn’t go well, it won’t get better once you get married.

Amen.