How to fire your clients
September 2004
Let’s talk about when client relationships go bad. Sometimes it’s really not anyone’s fault, but the relationship is not a good mix. Here are some suggestions for maneuvering this situation.
Sometimes you have to fire a client. I know it sounds oxymoronic, particularly in these difficult economic times, but some clients simply aren’t worth the trouble. I’m sure you’ve had one or two along the way. Sometimes it’s just bad chemistry. Sometimes it’s a client that can’t be pleased. Or a client who does their part of things poorly – changes their mind constantly, doesn’t understand the effect of their actions on the price, or expects more than is humanly possible.
When this happens, and you’ve determined the situation is irretrievable, you want to have an exit strategy. Let’s say the client has been a problem from day one, but you really like them and wanted to help them. You did everything you could, you threw in free hours and extra help, but their inability to make up their mind has blown the budget. They don’t understand, and feel righteous in their indignation. You have had it up to the proverbial here, and are ready to blow. Rather than doing so, and really giving yourself a black eye, take a few moments to plan your exit.
If possible, or appropriate, have a replacement in mind. They may not want one from you, if things have really gone south, but have it ready. If the referral is a friend, peer, or someone you particularly like, you may want to give them a heads-up. Don’t assume that just because you didn’t get along with the client that they won’t. However, if the client drove you crazy with unreasonable demands, you might not want to refer them to anyone – just point them to the phone book, approximate a smile, and flee.
Refund what you can, or do whatever is possible to ensure that you at least part on decent terms. You don’t want them spreading bad press about you. One CEO I know calls this, “giving money away until they are happy.” It can be cheaper in the long run.
Keep your cool. This is a time for calm heads and voices. Remind yourself that this is the last time you have to deal with this person. Picture yourself on a warm beach, mai-tai in hand, out of reach from this pesky person. Picture them …well, let’s not go there. You get the idea.
One caveat here – if the reasons that led you to ‘fire’ this client are going to do nothing but cause them trouble in their next attempt to get assistance, you may want to give them gentle feedback to this effect. I call this The Truth Shall Set You Free (and it might help them). Be very, very careful with this. If you are angry, or not good at presenting things in a neutral fashion, you might not want to attempt this maneuver. Use phrases like, “One of the things that made this challenging for us was XYZ.” Or perhaps, “If you are able to consolidate all of your design choices before you hire the next contractor, you will save yourself money and perhaps contribute to a great working relationship.” This is tricky – as they say on TV – don’t try this at home unless you are an expert. If you are really good at this kind of interaction, you may never need to use those skills, but even the most tactful person can have to fire a client. It happens to the best of us.
And lastly, make sure that you learn from the experience. Were there warning signs? Usually there are some, and frequently we ignore them, or hope for the best. Sit down while the experience is fresh, and make notes. What signs of incipient disaster do you now recognize, that you may not have seen so clearly as they were happening?
Once you have identified some of the areas that create an unsuccessful match, you can try to screen those situations or clients out rather than repeating the experience. Screening can accomplish a number of purposes:
- It can help you identify clients who you don’t want to have.
- It can help you match clients to your representatives. Perhaps one of your staff is particularly effective at dealing with folks who appreciate a very detailed approach. Give her all the anal-retentive clients – it’s a match made in heaven. Don’t give her the folks who want a broad-brush approach. One person I know watches things like how papers are stapled. To them, that is an indication of how the person approaches the details of the work. To me, it’s madness. To another person who lines things up in straight lines on their desk – it’s perfect. Match like to like, wherever you can.
- If there are particular situations or combinations of situations that have always led to grief in the past, don’t repeat them just because you want work. It will probably backfire, and you will rue the day you took the job. What’s that old saying? “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.” Don’t do it.
In an ideal world, you will have just enough of the perfect jobs to make just as much money as you want to. OK, I know that is not how it works. However, in any walk of life, we learn from experience that certain situations, or types of people, aren’t good matches for us, and end up costing us far too much money, time, or resources. I’m saying – try to watch for this.
And of course, when we talk about screening, we are not talking about screening people by color, creed, or any other such criteria. We are talking about recognizing situations that have a high risk for failure, and avoiding them. One interior decorator I know has found that she has had to stop taking work if it is essentially running errands for others. What she really wants to do is to help people with the larger choices – home layouts, color choices, and overall styles. The more detailed tasks – finding the curtains, rods, hardware, lampshades, etc are not the part of the business that she enjoys. Invariably, when she takes a job with too high a proportion of those kinds of tasks, it is not successful. So, by more clearly defining tasks up front, she has learned that it is better to say no to a new client and refer them to someone more suited to those tasks, or to sub them out. That way, everyone wins. And that’s good business.
Ramona Abbott helps businesses maximize their efficiency, effectiveness and group dynamics. She utilizes proven techniques that are fun and affordable to help you improve your workplace in a variety of ways. She welcomes inquiries at 360-398-2606 or ramona@EssentiallyProfessional.com
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