Every year fire 20% of your customers

Say what?

You heard me. If you have 20 customers there are approximately four who need to go away at the end of the year.

The businesses that do the best job of adhering to a marketing plan still manage to take on some customers they can do without. Price hagglers, slow payers, time monopolizers are usually not characteristics of the customers you desire. They may be the nicest people in the world some days. Find a very nice way to give them a list of your competitors and thank them graciously for their business.

Now that you have gotten that out of the way you can set a goal of four new accounts that are in alignment with your marketing strategy. This is a never ending process. After a few cycles you will begin to enjoy the sense you have of elevating the caliber of those you serve.