Search
Close this search box.
Blog » Business Tips » Three Ways to Handle Losing an Important Client

Three Ways to Handle Losing an Important Client

There comes a time in every freelancers career where they lose a client they wanted to keep forever. This could happen for a number of reasons. Many times, the client themselves might move on, whether they sold their business or are pursuing different marketing strategies. Sometimes a freelancer might raise their rates and the client might not want to pay the new price. Sometimes there is just a personality difference and things just fall apart. Either way, here are three ways to handle it if you have the unfortunate experience of losing an important client.

Ask for Feedback

If you lose an important client, it’s imperative to ask for feedback instead of getting defensive. Ask the client the reasons for parting ways and what you could have done better. Many people like avoiding confrontation but sometimes it’s good to hear it. After all, feedback is very valuable and if it can help you keep your other clients, it’s definitely worth listening.

That said, you might get positive feedback and the issue with your client parting ways might have nothing to do with your abilities. As previously mentioned, it might have to do with a business change or a budget deficit. So, they might have positive feedback for you in which case, you should ask for a testimonial.

Ask for a Testimonial

Testimonials are important for many reasons. You can include them on your hire me page on your website. You can include them on your media kit to show that others have worked with you, and you can use them if you move on to selling products down the line too. Testimonials show that you’re a valuable person to work with who completes work on time and delivers quality results.

Essentially, it’s almost like the modern day version of giving someone a phone number to call one of your references, so don’t be afraid to ask for one. Sometimes you might have to follow up a few times in order to get it, but it’s definitely worth it.

Continue Supporting Them

Lastly, the most important step if you have to part ways with a client is to continue supporting them (that is, if the split was amicable and they didn’t treat you horribly or something like that!) By continuing to support them, what I mean is referring them to your friends. You can also share their business news on social media, check in with them from time to time, and offer to help at different events.

This will enable you to stay at the forefront of their mind, so if their company does get a new round of funding or a donation and they can bring back on contractors, they’ll automatically think of you. That wouldn’t happen if you were upset you lost the client and didn’t take it well. Essentially, always maintain connections and positivity with past clients because you never know when they could become your current clients again.

About Due’s Editorial Process

We uphold a strict editorial policy that focuses on factual accuracy, relevance, and impartiality. Our content, created by leading finance and industry experts, is reviewed by a team of seasoned editors to ensure compliance with the highest standards in reporting and publishing.

TAGS
Financial Writer and Blogger
Catherine Collins Alford is a nationally recognized author of the book Mom’s Got Money, an award-winning freelance writer, and the co-founder of MillennialHomeowner.com.

About Due

Due makes it easier to retire on your terms. We give you a realistic view on exactly where you’re at financially so when you retire you know how much money you’ll get each month. Get started today.

Categories

Top Trending Posts

Due Fact-Checking Standards and Processes

To ensure we’re putting out the highest content standards, we sought out the help of certified financial experts and accredited individuals to verify our advice. We also rely on them for the most up to date information and data to make sure our in-depth research has the facts right, for today… Not yesterday. Our financial expert review board allows our readers to not only trust the information they are reading but to act on it as well. Most of our authors are CFP (Certified Financial Planners) or CRPC (Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor) certified and all have college degrees. Learn more about annuities, retirement advice and take the correct steps towards financial freedom and knowing exactly where you stand today. Learn everything about our top-notch financial expert reviews below… Learn More