Client Misses: The Ones Who Got Away by Joan Kent, PhD

Client Misses: The Ones Who Got Away
By Joan Kent, PhD

Let me start with a clarification. This post is not about missed business opportunities or client fees. It’s about the disappointment of not getting to serve prospective clients with needs that were tailor-made for my expertise, for one reason or another.

Helping people get results is something I’m committed to doing. Not to be able to do so when I know how effectively my guidelines and suggestions could turn things around for them is disappointing.

Here are a few examples this year.

Missed Client #1

A self-described sugar addict contacted me to schedule an appointment. During the appointment, she revealed her health and mood issues. She had many.

In general, clients like this don’t actually have 100 things wrong with them. More typically, they have one or two underlying problems that may manifest in multiple signs and symptoms. In this woman’s case, it seemed obvious that how she was eating was causing virtually all of the problems. I was certain we could have effected a dramatic change in her health and wellbeing.

The appointment was scheduled for an hour, but I let it run about 45 minutes over that because she seemed to need to talk. By the end, I was quite pressed for time, so I made a single, easy-to-follow food suggestion. I then sent her a carefully outlined plan of how we’d work together.

Her reason for not working with me was cost, no chance to discuss payment options.

Missed Client #2

Clients who’ve had success with my system refer others to me, which I greatly appreciate. Yet sometimes I don’t get a chance to work with those referrals.

One of my successful clients was able to bring his diabetes, erratic glucose, high triglycerides and high blood pressure under control by following my guidelines.

He wanted his friend, also diabetic, to get similar benefits, so he told the friend about me. Unfortunately, he added, “She’ll tell you to stop eating sugar.”

The friend’s response was, “I’m not ready to do that,” and that was the end.

In actuality, I would never tell a new client to stop eating sugar. There are quite a few steps I’d have him or her take first before we even looked at any sugar problem.

Could I have helped this diabetic gentleman? I have absolute confidence that the answer is “yes.” But I never even met him so it was a non-starter.

Missed Client #3

Carol (not her real name) recently signed up on my website for nutrition coaching. She described her problem in ways that I knew would respond to my system:
• negative reactions to sugar and white flour
• powerlessness over those foods
• a pattern of skipping meals till she was starving
• symptoms of ADD, anxiety, persistent fears, negative thinking, irritability
• a possible learning disorder.

“I always feel like I’m hanging on by a thread,” she wrote. “I’m 49 and OVERWHELMED.”

The items in her list would have responded extremely well to shifts in her food – and the results could have been life changing. I contacted her initially by email, and followed up with a phone call. She never replied.

These are only a few examples out of many, sparked by year-end ruminations. If I hadn’t had such success with other clients this year – and believed so strongly in what I do – it would matter far less.

Maybe you’ve had similar disappointments with some of your clients and can relate to this.

End-of-year disappointments aside, though, what’s great about my work is the number of people I do get to help – and that, of course, is the best thing to focus on for the holidays, and going forward.
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If you would like help with any aspect of your nutrition, please sign up for a Food Breakthrough Session on the home page, under Coaching. It’s free, and there’s no obligation.