All customers aren't necessarily good customers. Some can drain your time and waste your resources. This might sound like heresy in a world where the customer is supposed to be king (or queen), but the reality is that there are some customers who simply aren't worth the return you get for the amount of time you have to spend to look after them.

It's a struggle to know whether to get rid of them politely and risk bad blood between you, or persist with the relationship - in the hope it will improve.

Often, it's not because the customers are horrible people. But when you look at it from the point of view of dollars and cents, they really don't contribute to your bottom line. In fact, in some cases, they may drain it.

In many instances, the “Pareto Principle” works, that is 20% of your customers contribute 80% of your revenue. So why not just concentrate on these customers?

So what's the best way to streamline your customers?

1. Price yourself out of their reach

The danger with this is that you may also be pricing yourself out of reach of your main fans. So if you follow this strategy you need to be sure that your main customers will continue to buy from you at a higher price.

Having said that, there does exist examples where increasing the price of your products can bring in entirely new groups of customers. One such example is that of a homewares manufacturer who found a whole new group of customers when he raised his prices. He used to sell his bedspreads for around $1000. But few of them moved off the shelves. As an experiment, he raised his price to $1500. They sold.

He couldn't quite work it out himself but realised that he was getting new customers who valued quality and were prepared to pay a premium for it.

2. Set parameters for your customers

When you've determined your ideal customer profile, don't be shy in broadcasting it. When you receive enquiries from potential customers, be explicit. For example: "We work with retailers who have at least five store locations" or "We deal with high net-worth individuals who want to invest at least $100,000" or "We specialise in helping business owners who work from home".

If you are explicit about the type of customer you typically work with, this can weed out inappropriate customers from the start.

3. Be busy

If customers who do not fit your ideal profile want to work with you, be busy. The reality is that you ARE busy ... working with the customers who are going to provide you with the return you want.

It's a bit rude you say: "You don't fit our customer profile" or "We're not going to make any money from you". But how about a polite version of "Demand for our services has exceeded our expectations, so we're currently booked out." Also, offer them an alternative supplier so they are not left high and dry.