Which is worth more to your company; a great employee, or a perfect fit client?

Which is worth more to your company; a great employee, or a perfect fit client.

I think for most of us, the answer is simple; I’ll take a new client (revenue) over a new employee (expense) any day!

But before you answer, think about one of your top team members; how much do they improve your life? How much do they contribute to your company? Ok, those great employees are rare — but they make such a difference, right? Sure, it might be 10% or 20% of the team — but when you get one, it’s fantastic. 

Now think for a minute about that client you recently onboarded that you were so excited about. They are going to be profitable, fun to work with, rewarding for your team. What’s your hit rate there? Are 40% of clients like that? Higher?

Which is harder to find?

So which is more valuable, an amazingly great employee — who’s hard to find — but when you get them, they make a huge difference? Or a perfect fit client, who likely won’t be around as long, and isn’t that hard to find?

So thinking about it that way, is it harder to get new clients, that are the right clients, or is it harder to get new top-notch employees?

Which is more valuable?

If it’s harder to get those great employees, and if they contribute a lot to your success, wouldn’t it make sense to put their needs ahead of client needs? Are great employees more valuable than your best clients? 

If so, what would that look like?

Instead of the client needs this, we’re all going to have to work late would it make sense to say to the client, I want my team to put their best work into your project — instead of having everyone work late we’re going to need one more day on this project?

And even more with “difficult” clients. What if we said, I realize that this deadline is important to you, but you got us all these inputs way past the deadline, and I value my team and the quality of our work too much to rush through this to meet the deadline.

I know these are bold statements — I want to know from you — how do they feel? What would it take for you to value your team above your clients?