How to Know When It’s Time to Fire a Client
There are a few paths your client relationships can follow and several tough problems that can pop up along your road trip to the wedding day. Having planned 400+ weddings myself, I have been through it all. Let’s dive into how to avoid sticky situations altogether.
Path 1 is smooth sailing all the way to your end destination. You follow the map perfectly, the car is comfortable, and your passengers (the clients) are your kind of people. This is like when the process leading up to the wedding day is a breeze, the wedding day itself is amazing, and the clients tell all their friends and family about how wonderful it was to work with you. They love you, and you love them.
Path 2 is a little bumpy, but you happily make it to the end destination. You’re forced to take a detour because a road is closed along the route, your clients are like demanding passengers in the backseat, and it’s a struggle to get from point A to point B. Luckily, you still get to the end destination (the wedding day). Once there, the clients share how happy they are after a perfect day. While you need—and deserve—a break and you’re extremely tired, they’re grateful and you’re able to move on.
Let’s be honest, 95% of your client relationships will follow Path 1 or Path 2. Occasionally, things take an unexpected turn and they follow Path 3.
Path 3 is when you get on the road for the trip and you realize you’re unsafe. The clients are in the backseat reaching to grab the steering wheel, trying to cover your eyes so you can’t see the road, and really making the drive impossible. You know you have to tuck and roll out of the car to make it out in one piece, even if that means the client is unhappy.
Out of my 400+ weddings, I’ve had about five Path 3 situations. Not many (thanks to a robust onboarding process, clear communication, and successful client re-set meetings)... but enough to know how to handle these tricky situations when they arise.
So how do Path 3 situations even come about? Sometimes clients have unrealistic expectations when it comes to budget, communication, work output, and more. But if you’re coming across those soul-sucking clients too often, it may be time to ask yourself, “Is it me? Or is it them?”
If it’s you, it’s not too late to make some changes. If it’s them, you might be able to salvage the road trip by having a client re-set meeting rather than straight up firing them.
Here are three questions to ask yourself as you decide if it’s a Path 2 (reset) or Path 3 (firing) type of road trip.
1. What are the issues I’m dealing with? Is it non-payment? Are the clients not responding? Do the clients have unrealistic expectations? Are they being abusive to me or my team? Besides being abusive to you or your team, these other issues are solvable with a little grit and determination. Those are Path 2 situations that can be resolved with a reset meeting and follow through on your end.
2. Are there holes in my process? Am I creating levels of unknowns that may lead to mistrust or anxiety? Was my onboarding process clear? Am I following through on my promises? Again, these road trips are able to stay on track with some client TLC! Grab my Client Experience Bundle to revamp your workflow. This will leave zero holes in your processes so that your clients feel taken care of and in the loop, and it’ll ensure they walk away raving about your services.
3. Where are we on the road trip? If you’ve made it 9 hours of the 10-hour trip, you probably aren’t going to turn back with just an hour left. It’s the same with firing a client. If the event is within 90 days, the collateral damage of unbuckling and hopping out of the car at that point may be too much to recover from. It’s important you think strategically about the ramifications of a huge decision like firing a client! Once it’s done, it can’t be taken back.
After you’ve answered these three questions for yourself, you’ll have a better understanding of if a client reset is achievable… or if firing them and moving on is the best path instead. Be sure to tune in to Weddings For Real episode 226 for your guide to client resets and client firings, including the pros and cons of firing a client and tips for avoiding these situations in the future.
And, if you’re feeling like it’s a you issue, I encourage you to grab my Boundary Setting Toolkit to set and enforce your boundaries moving forward so you don’t have more scary road trips down the line.
