When Should You Let A Client Go?

When you’re at the nascent stages of growing your business, you’re not only trying to seek out new customers but also looking to retain the existing client base you have. Unfortunately, not all customer relationships you have will be smooth sailing. So what happens when you’re faced with a difficult client? Is it better to stick it out or is it better to get rid of them? Let’s find out.

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Difficult customers are always a pain to deal with and it’s wise to step back and assess whether or not you’re better off not doing business with them. Over at Entrepreneur, Jayson Demers, CEO of AudienceBloom, went through six signs that you should fire your client, one of which is if a customer dominates your work or overrides your recommendations.

If you’re hired by a client to offer your expertise on a project, they should trust that you’re the expert and try to not get in the way of your work as much as possible. As Demers explains:

“Your client may know his or her brand better than you do, but when it comes down to the actual work involved, you know the strategies and best practices necessary to do a good job. If the client ends up micromanaging your work, or consistently rejects your recommendations, it may not be worth pursuing the relationship further.
 
It’s a sign of disrespect, or at least poor understanding, and if you continue working in an inefficient or inappropriate way, it could eventually reflect poorly on your brand and reputation — especially when you get blamed for the client’s poor results, even after he or she has failed to implement your recommendations.

Other signs Demers pointed to are lack of communication and lack of respect. Hit the link to read more about this topic on Entrepreneur.

[Via Entrepreneur]