Yes we’ve all been there before. A good client out of the blue wants to cancel or transfer their business. In most cases you find out from your company’s home office. You don’t even find out from the client as they don’t have the courtesy to tell you.
So you get upset, even angry. Your day is ruined and you start hating the industry again. When you calm down you keep wondering what happened and why? You call the client, get voice mail and leave a nice message. You call again, get voice mail leave another message. Then you start emailing, then emailing again.
Then you become obsessed. You have to know what happened. The more the client ignores you the more you chase after them.
Sound familiar? I had exactly this same occurrence with a client of mine. I started the call off with a positive focus of what went well and immediately my client starts talking about a client that cancelled. He was frustrated, upset and angry.
So this is what I told him.
5 Must Do’s 
- Stay Calm – keep your emotions in check and do not take things personally. Because it isn’t personal. The client cancels usually because they were advised to, a relative came in the business or they got cold feet. So take a few deep breaths and relax. Now this is the hard part
- Do Another Activity – yes the best way to keep your emotions in check is to divert your mind to another task. First, it allows you to think things through logically and rationally when ready. Second you realize things aren’t as bad as you think.
- Disassociate Yourself – from the client and the result. In other words no matter what happens, you have plenty other clients who really love you and what you have done for them. It frees you and relieves the anxiety and stress.
- Be In Control – do not chase after that client. Let me repeat do not chase after the client. The more you do the more desperate you sound, the more they ignore you and the worse you feel. How do you do this?
- Act in Their Best Interest – DO NOT TRY TO RESELL. This is real important. Let the client know its ok if they want to move on and all you want to do is make sure they are doing what’s right for them. Simply ask for 5 minutes of their time. When you see them face to face, just reinforce the benefits of what you originally did together. Make sure they understand. When you do guess what? They feel better and so do you.
When you do all the above it actually becomes irrelevant if the client stays with you or not. You did the right things by your client by acting in their best interests. If they move on so be it. You did your best and its time to focus on those that need your services.
Tips from this article
- Stay Calm
- Do Another Activity
- Disassociate Yourself
- Be In Control
- Act in Their Best Interests