Is it Time to Fire a Client? (Here’s why, how, and when)
Guest post by Tim Noetzel
Not all clients are created equal.
The best clients are easy to work with, pay the rates you ask for, and treat you like a partner. You genuinely enjoy helping them, and they value and appreciate your work. They may even refer you to other businesses.
But the worst clients can make freelancing a grind.
These clients can be a drag on your emotional well-being and bottom line. While some situations are fixable, others aren’t. The best solution may be to fire the client and move on.
How do you know whether to fire a client or try to salvage the relationship?
And if you decide to cut ties, what’s the best way to deliver the news without risking your reputation or causing more friction?
Let’s dive in!
When to Consider Firing a Client
Here are six typical reasons freelancers cite when firing a client:
Lack of payment or consistently late payment. The client agreed to your payment terms but seems to ignore them. You always have to chase them and send them reminders. It just adds stress and drains you emotionally.
You want to raise your rates, and they won’t pay. It’s good to have long-term clients, but that can be a problem when it comes to changing rates. They’re paying rates you agreed to five years ago. It’s time for a change, but they say no.
No respect for your time, expertise, or boundaries. They might call you at all hours and on weekends, have unreasonable deadlines or expectations, or exhibit abusive behavior. They seem to be operating on a different planet.
Serious communication problems. They consistently ignore your emails, phone calls, or messages. They miss agreed-upon deadlines, cause the project to drift, and then call in a panic because NOW IT’S AN EMERGENCY!!!
Unreasonable scope creep. They keep asking for work outside of the scope but don’t want to pay for it. Although you’ve clearly outlined the scope, they insist on adding to it without increasing the budget.
Violation of ethical or moral standards. The nature of the work changes, and it rubs you the wrong way. You don’t want to be associated with it. You wouldn’t be proud to show it to your mother. It certainly isn’t going into your portfolio.
Before You Fire a Client, Get Feedback
Before you fire a client, talk to them about the issue. I always recommend giving direct feedback first. You may be tempted to avoid it if it feels confrontational. However, it’s worth a shot if an honest conversation would change the situation.
Good working relationships only happen when both parties respect each other and share information candidly.
In my experience, many issues are the result of unaligned expectations. The client expects one thing, you expect another. So, they push you, and you get frustrated.
Remember: client management is a muscle. It’s up to you to exercise it.
While your differences may be irreconcilable, you can’t know if you don’t discuss them first.
Running from clients at the first sign of conflict means you’ll likely burn through them quickly. That’s a recipe for misery and low profitability.
A Conversation Won’t Fix It? Time to Move On
If you’ve repeatedly given the client feedback, and you’re still experiencing friction, that’s a good sign it’s time to let them go.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter who’s at fault. If you’re not happy, you won’t do good work.
But before making this decision, ask yourself if you’ve done everything you reasonably should to salvage the relationship. You own the business, so whether to fire them is ultimately your call.
However, it’s worth reflecting on whether you could have done more to avoid this issue so it doesn’t occur again.
How to Fire a Client
If you’ve decided the best course of action is to cut ties, here’s how to do it.
First, make sure they’ve paid you for all work to date.
You don’t want them owing you money when you tell them the relationship is over. Otherwise, you may never collect that payment.
So, pick a time when they’re all paid up.
Give a Reason You’re Firing Them
Broadly speaking, there are three ways to explain why you’re firing a client.
The Direct Approach The most obvious approach is to be candid with them. Explain why things have been challenging and why you’ve decided to move on. If you choose this approach, do your best not to blame them but focus on how the situation has made things challenging for you. Doing so will minimize the friction during the conversation and any subsequent fallout.
It’s Not You, It’s Me If the client has a short fuse or might tarnish your reputation, it’s probably best to be less direct. Say that you’re changing the focus of your business, or offer another reason why you can’t work with them. It’s not them, it’s you.
Raise Your Rates Another option is to raise your rates. If you don’t want to work with them unless they pay a high premium, increasing your rates substantially can effectively end the relationship. However, be sure you’d be happy to work with them at these new rates. They might surprise you and say yes.
Pick a Date
Along with making sure they’ve paid you for all invoices, check your work to confirm you’ve fulfilled any agreements you’ve made. You don’t want any work hanging out there that may prolong the relationship now that you’ve decided to end it.
You may want to give them some notice so they have time to find someone else to work with, but that’s up to you, given the specific situation.
If the relationship is already extremely strained, a quick and clean break may be the best option.
What to Do After Firing a Client
After firing a client, I recommend conducting a post-mortem. You want to avoid getting to the point where you’re routinely firing clients.
Ask yourself:
Were there any red flags I should have noticed earlier on?
How can I avoid this situation in the future?
Am I communicating as clearly as possible?
Are my Terms and Conditions detailed enough?
Were there steps I could have taken earlier that would have salvaged the relationship?
Whether you’re a copywriter, freelance web developer, or other creative, the success of your business and your happiness is entirely up to you. While it can be tempting to blame everything on bad clients, doing so will lead to a miserable career.
So, take ownership of what happened. Do your best to create healthy relationships with future clients.
About the Author
Tim Noetzel is a freelance web developer based in Boston, MA. He also coaches freelancers on how to build high-revenue businesses at FreelanceGPS.com.
You’ll find more about working with clients in my book, How to Start a Successful Creative Agency. It’s the essential business guide for graphic designers, copywriters, filmmakers, photographers, and programmers.
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