The Blog of Lisa Morosky

I recently had to do something I really hate doing. I had to fire a client.

If you’re a service provider, this comes with the territory. But it doesn’t make it any easier. I thoroughly enjoy each client I work with, but I can recognize when a situation is holding me back or is no longer in my best business interest.

Don’t worry though. There are things you can do to ensure that this conversation goes as smoothly as possible.

Tell them it’s not them (even if it is), it’s you.
It sounds like a typical break-up line (“It’s not you, It’s me.”), but it’s appropriate to use in this situation. Technically, it is you who has the issue and who is initiating the break-up, so it’s not fibbing in the least. Own the break-up and leave your client with the impression that they’re not a “bad client”, but that you just have things to move on to.

Do your research and recommend someone else to fill your shoes.
Let me tell you: the fact that you do this for them and don’t leave them hanging, will mean a lot to them. Set up affiliate programs with other service providers, so that if your client decides to go with someone you recommend, you get a small piece of that pie.

This is just another way to leave your client feeling like you do care about them, even at the break-up moment.

If your client asks for feedback on what spurred this decision, or what they did wrong, be honest, but be vague.
Some clients sincerely want to know what they can do better in their next contracting relationship. There’s no harm in that. However, it’s not really your job to diagnose the problems of someone else. Be honest about your reasoning, but be extremely vague. They don’t need to know everything going on in your business and your head. Bring this back to the idea of “It’s not you. It’s me.”.

Finish what you start.
Don’t leave any loose ends. If you’re in the middle of a big project, at least finish up the current objective. If you’re working on a retainer, fulfill those obligations.

If you really want to go the extra mile for your client, offer to transition the new contractor into your responsibilities (not for free, of course).

By now, you probably know that you always need to be measuring the success of your business. You need to know if you’re on the right track or not. People will give you a million and one metrics you should be measuring. Those metrics are important, don’t get me wrong, but if you just keep track of one – this should be the one.

And here it is: are your clients (or customers or readers or whatever the case may be) going out on a limb for you?

Here’s what I mean by that:

• Are they referring new business your way?
• Are they passing on your information to others (without being asked to)?
• Are they willing to give you testimonials?
• Are you mainly working off of referrals, or blind contacts?
• Are they saying good things about you without being prompted to do so?

Tracking this one metric will tell you straight-up whether or not your business is succeeding. See, if your clients are doing all of those things mentioned above, it means they know, like, and trust you. And if someone knows, likes, and trusts you – they’ll evangelize on your behalf until the cows come home (which makes your job a lot easier).

So how do you go about measuring this?

• Keep track of referrals. I simply do this by asking each person who contacts me how they found out about me, and logging that information into a Google Doc. Easy enough.
• Set up Google Alerts for your name, your business name, your product names, etc. Keep tabs on what people are saying about you. You’ll know immediately if you’re doing something right, or if you’re doing something wrong.
• Keep track of what people are saying about you on social media. Frequently search for yourself. Keep tabs on the conversation.