How to Become More Selective With Your Clients and Protect Your Profitability | Ezo Consulting

In most B2B companies, the main question is growth.
But there is an even more fundamental one: should everything really grow?

What limits commercial performance is not always a lack of effort, leads, or tools.
It is often a lack of selectivity.

Selectivity, the forgotten foundation of commerce

Since the earliest forms of trade, commerce has never been about quantity.
It has always been about choice: choosing your product, your market, your customer, and your price.

Selectivity has been at the heart of commerce for more than three thousand years.

Yet in the modern B2B world, most companies try to sell to everyone.
They chase every opportunity, respond to every RFP, and maintain exhausting service levels.
Then they wonder why their margins do not improve.

Serving is not always creating value

In a recent project, we applied the Service Intensity Index to one of a client’s top-revenue accounts.
The result was 87 out of 100 in service intensity.

After adjusting profitability with five cost-weighting criteria, the outcome became negative.
Every euro billed was actually destroying margin.

For years, the team believed this was a strategic account.
In reality, it was a loss engine.

We proposed a price aligned with the real cost of service.
The customer refused, and the company decided to let them go.

Three months later, margins increased, service workload decreased, and the teams regained energy and focus.
That decision was not about courage.
It was about clarity.

Selectivity is not elitism

Being selective does not mean saying no to customers.
It means saying yes where your energy creates the most value.

It is not arrogance. It is lucidity.
It is the ability to recognize when a yes costs more than it returns.

Selectivity requires something that few organizations cultivate: clarity about the value of time, energy, and attention.

The 5000 USD method: valuing your time properly

Entrepreneur and thinker Naval Ravikant suggests a simple exercise.
Imagine that your hour is worth 5000 USD.

Not because someone pays you that much, but because that is the value you assign to it.

Before any commercial action, ask yourself a single question:
Is this worth 5000 USD of my time?

It does not have to produce that amount directly, but this mindset changes the way decisions are made.
Does this customer deserve that level of attention?
Does this project justify the time it will consume?
Does this negotiation reflect the real value of my effort?

It is a mental shift that marks the beginning of true commercial selectivity.

From philosophy to practice

Here is how to translate this mindset into a practical approach.

1. Measure each customer’s service intensity

Use the Service Intensity Index to score clients on five dimensions:

  1. Number of unpaid interactions

  2. Urgency and frequency of requests

  3. Complexity of support

  4. Dependence on your team

  5. Price pressure or discount level

2. Adjust the real profitability

Recalculate the net adjusted margin by integrating the total cost of serving the account.
You will often discover that some top accounts actually destroy value.

3. Segment your customers

  • Ideal clients: profitable, aligned, and stable.

  • Fixable clients: profitable but negotiable.

  • Destructive clients: unprofitable and misaligned; they should be transformed or released.

4. Reinvest your energy where it matters

This is where selectivity becomes a true performance skill.
Decide consciously where to invest your time and focus.

The paradox of less

Every unprofitable client you let go creates space for a better one.
Every no opens the door to a more valuable yes.

It may sound counterintuitive, but it is the essence of selective growth.
Doing less but better.
Serving fewer clients but doing it more deeply.
Protecting what matters most: your time, your energy, and your margin.

In summary

Selectivity is not a posture. It is a skill.
And like any skill, it can be learned.

It begins the day you stop measuring what you gain
and start observing what you spend to gain it.

Want to go further?

At Ezo Consulting, we help B2B leaders measure the true profitability of their customer portfolios through the Service Intensity Index and decision tools that connect velocity with adjusted margin.

Let us connect on LinkedIn
or learn more at www.ezo.consulting