Lies My Govt Told Me PDF Download Free

Perhaps the most valuable piece of information to take away from this book is simple, but rarely followed. Every business will encounter toxic clients, and these frustrating individuals take up a large amount of time and resources. These resources are much better spent on good clients that are easy to work with and actually provide profit for the business. However, many business owners, especially small business owners and single-proprietorship business owners lack the skills to eliminate these toxic clients from their daily lives. In truth, they are unavoidable, but Sutton teaches anyone how to identify and reduce the amount of toxic clients in business. If you look just a little deeper, much of his advice could apply to toxic people in your life in general.

From the introduction (Who is a Toxic Client?) on, Sutton shares his uncomplicated and no-nonsense approach to identifying and dealing with toxic clients. As a small business owner myself, I was interested and a little intimidated to read a book about business. I assumed it would be full of “business-speak” that went over my head and did not mesh with my casual way of running my own business. However, the language was easy to understand and even when I was introduced to topics that were new to my own business knowledge, like dealing with non-payers and small claims court, I was able to take away plenty of valuable, useful information.

In addition to the practical information in identifying and dealing with several different kinds of toxic clients that can negatively affect your business, one of the strongest elements of the book is the easy to follow chapter organization. The first several, clearly labeled chapters deal with the different types of toxicity, like freeloaders, lying, angry clients, and even mentally ill clients, and how to identify them. First, the author offers a clear explanation of the type of toxic client and what makes them that way. Many of the chapters feature a concise “Lesson” in bold. All of this is in the abstract, so to clarify, each chapter has one or more “Cases”; real life experiences with actual toxic clients. The author has dealt with all of these toxic clients so that you, the reader, don’t have to. These “Cases” tie together all of the advice and provide practical application and understanding.

The final chapters address in detail tactics for dealing with toxic clients that do enter your life, right down to dismissing them. Finally, the author offers appendices for procedures such as filing liens, navigating small claims court, and using collection agencies. My only criticism regarding the otherwise easy to navigate chapter organization is that the Table of Contents lists only the chapter numbers. It would be easier to flip to the appropriate section if the chapters were labeled by name, as well.

As a whole, Garret Sutton’s Toxic Client: Knowing and Avoiding the Problem Customer is a valuable resource for anyone who deals with clients on a daily basis, whether in large or small business.”

In the first chapters, Sutton gently introduces us to the customers he is referring to and helps us recognize those “types.” While he sprinkles advice throughout the end, his final chapters resonate with valuable tips and tricks of the trade. I like that the book helps develops the confidence and skills to identify these types of customers up front, and hopefully avoid a lot of heartache in the end. I also enjoyed the fact that, while it is obvious the writer is very knowledgeable in this area, he acknowledges that he too has at times made decisions against his gut that ended up being the case of a difficult customer. Any business book that knows that there is always room for personal experiences and growth I find to be more realistic.

If you ever find yourself dealing with customers in your life or business, as most of us do, this is a must for your library.”