Growing a healthy and sustainable business often means assessing the strengths and weakness of your organization. Your most strategic and valuable resource is human capital – generally comprised of various publics not limited to: Customers, Employees, Media, Suppliers, Competitors, Shareholders, Government and the General Public.
Successful companies realize the importance of healthy and sustainable relationships and the drudgery of unhealthy ones. The unhealthy relationships that most businesses encounter start with the end user [clients, customers, etc.]. Unfortunately, every company will be faced with the necessary leadership task of firing a client at one point or another. Hopefully this doesn’t happen often. However, there are measures to take that can preclude the collateral damage of bruised egos, business changes and unmet obligations. Perhaps you have come to a juncture in which it is necessary to part ways? Here are a few tips and rules for the road:
Assess the Overall Client Relationship
Ensure you have been upfront and transparent with the nature of the deliverables for your product and/or service. Draft a Scope of Work or Agreement and gain mutual alignment to the terms in writing. Be clear with what you can and cannot accomplish for the given task. This will save you time and money in the future; and your clients will respect you for it.
When It’s Time to Part Ways
[check_list]
Funny Money. Is a client upfront about their ability to render compensation? Or do they keep requesting deadline and payment extensions, or disregarding billing arrangements by not paying on time, or simply not at all?
Late Bloomers. Is a client continuously late to scheduled meetings? If so, it illustrates a lack of professionalism and blatant disregard for the value of a person’s time. Simple courtesies go a long way.
Big Fish Syndrome. Is a client fond of telling tall tales [big fish mentality]? Lying is never acceptable and eventually it will become infectious in any business relationship. A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on. – Winston Churchill
Ch-ch-ch-Changes. If a client makes continuous attempts to change a contract or requests major changes outside of your initial scope of work – it may be time to re-evaluate the client relationship. A client who values your work and understands the latent value will be firm and steady in their dealings.
Jump Higher Please. Any reputable company realizes the advantage of going above and beyond for their clients. The rule of reciprocity is a tried and true master. But there will be the occasional client that has unmet expectations [unwarranted or legitimate]. It is important for a company to set clear expectations and manage them continuously through the length of the engagement. If done well via educating a client during each step of the process your success rate will be infinitely higher. However, if a client continues to marginalize efforts – it is time to get off the trampoline immediately.
Other Red Flags. These observations go without saying — lack of respect for basic business operations, questioning a company’s integrity, displays unprofessional dealings, refusal to compensate until additional [out of scope] work is delivered, continuously seeking heavy discounts, exhibited poor track record and bad experiences with a number of previous firms, etc.
[/check_list]
Be Swift in Action and Diligent in Thought
No relationship ever starts on the premise of ending. But if you find yourself dealing with the aforementioned issues on a consistent basis, take direct steps to remedy the situation. In the long run it will be best for your firm and your client. It goes without saying; Professional is, as Professional does. No matter what the circumstance, always remain on higher ground and illustrate a first-rate level of professionalism. Here is a 5-step guide to moving on professionally and amicably:
[check_list]
Meet Your Contractual Obligations. Consult legal counsel and the business agreement.
Gather Documentation and File it. Gather all relevant information and archive it.
Send a Termination Letter. Have your attorney draft a formal and professional letter. Keep it short, simple and to the point.
Send a Final Invoice. Share the final invoice immediately that covers all remaining deliverables.
Move On. Don’t take it personal [if you are the client or the company]. Business is business and sometimes for various reasons or simple incompatibility the business relationship does not work out. A natural response is to complain publicly – don’t. Defamation and libel are serious issues and can be costly in the long run for either party. Not only does it look bad to badmouth other companies it ultimately reflects the depth of your character. You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.
[/check_list]
While these experiences are generally few and far between – they can and do happen. How do you minimize the occurrence of a client break-up? Be the best business you can be. Here are some rules for the road that are proven, effective, and simple: treat others fairly, deliver on your promises, always give a client more than he/she expected, pay more attention to your client than your bottom line, reward your clients, say ‘Thank You’ [it goes a long way], and remain professional even when it is tempting not to.
