Ep. 38 Firing, Getting Fired, and Breaking Up With Clients
In the online business world, we love to talk about our dream clients. The ones who respect our time, who respect our time, pay on time, love our work, and send glowing testimonials and refer us to all their friends.
But something that we don't talk about enough is what happens when things don't go that smoothly. Because if you work with enough clients, eventually it's going to happen. You are going to have to fire a client or you will get fired by one.
As awful as those situations can make us feel, it's not the end of the world. It's just part of doing business. So today I'm going to share some personal stories about times I've had to fire a client, times I've been fired by a client, and a time that we mutually decided to part ways and what each experience taught me about boundaries, alignment, and running my business with integrity.
These moments, while extremely uncomfortable at the time, are the ones that help you grow the most. And that's something that we need to remove the stigma around talking about.
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I'm going to share three real life stories with you today, and I'm going to try to be respectful about the details. So please don't DM me on Instagram trying to figure out who these clients are. I'm not going to tell you. That's not the point of the story.
Story #1: The First Time I Had to Fire a Client
Let's talk about the first time I had to tell a client, "Hey, this isn't working. I think we need to go our own ways."
This person was a coach and host of a pretty popular podcast. They came to me as a referral from a former client. At first, we seemed pretty well aligned. One thing that maybe should have been a red flag (but wasn't to me at the time) was that her website was on a platform I was unfamiliar with. But I was really open with her about that, and she seemed fine with it. She understood and was happy to let me learn her platform as we worked on things.
Other than that, we had clear goals. She had really great energy. I was excited about the project, and it was one of the bigger projects I had booked at the time. So I was really pumped.
When Things Started Going Off the Rails
But as things progressed, they started going off the rails a little bit. She started going way out of scope, adding extra tasks and expecting deliverables that weren't part of our agreement. Plus, I was unsure if some of these things were even possible with her current platform, which was not only unfamiliar to me but also fairly limiting in what you could do.
She also started blurring some lines on my boundaries. There was a lot of sending me text messages, which I'm pretty clear with clients is not a way I like to be contacted.
I tried (or I thought I tried at the time) to set very clear boundaries and clarify expectations. But in hindsight, I think that's something I could have done better, and I do better now with clients. So that's definitely where I own some of the breakdown in the relationship.
It just got to a point where she was piling on so many more asks than I could get through that I really felt like I was drowning. I started to have honestly a lot of anxiety around working on the project. Having to send her updates and tell her I wasn't able to get through everything or didn't know how to do some of the stuff she was asking for was really stressful.
I think it was the combination of the scope creep and trying to build the plane while flying it (as far as learning a new platform) that eventually got to me. To be honest, I just hit my breaking point and realized: this isn't good for either of us. I'm not happy with the project. She's not happy with the results she's getting. It's time for us to go our separate ways, and hopefully she can find somebody else who can get her what she wants a little easier.
The Lessons I Learned
First and foremost, really stick to your scope of work. Scope creep is one of the fastest ways to lose profitability and burn yourself out.
Secondly, I learned how to more respectfully but firmly hold my boundaries. I'm now of the mindset that boundaries with clients are really one of the kindest things you can do for them because it sets expectations on both ends. But mentally, I wasn't quite there yet during this project.
All that to say... this client has since reached back out to me (this was many years ago) and asked me a few little things here and there or questions about her site. There's no bad blood. It's totally fine. She understood. I was obviously pretty apologetic when I told her I didn't think I could help her anymore, and it was a lot worse in my head when I was anticipating having to do that than it really turned out to be.
Firing a Client Doesn't Mean You Failed
Firing a client doesn't mean you're bad at business or bad at your craft or that you should go back to corporate or whatever. It just means you thought this was going to be a good fit and it's not. Maybe parting ways is the kindest thing you can do for both of you and is the most service-oriented solution for your client.
Knowing when it's time to call it is so much better than trying to force something that's not working, finish a project you don't feel good about, or under-deliver for your client.
Ironically, a lot of people will say, "Well then she's going to say bad things about you online." That didn't happen. But also, sometimes letting a client go when it's time is the best way to protect your reputation. Because continuing might mean delivering subpar results. And that probably is something they're going to talk about.
From my end, if I hired a contractor in my business, I would have so much respect for them being honest with me and telling me, "I actually don't think I'm your person for this anymore. Let's figure out a way we can end this that works for both of us" versus somebody continuing to basically fool me into thinking they can deliver on something they can't.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
Clients who consistently add "one more thing" and it starts to really pile up
Vague deliverables or unclear expectations from the beginning
A pattern of boundary pushing (once or twice is manageable, but a pattern is a red flag)
When you start to feel drained, anxious, and really dreading working on the project (your intuition is telling you something's off)
Story #2: When I Got Fired by a Client
Now on the flip side, there have been situations where the roles were reversed... where clients ended things with me. And that one stings a little more.
This one was actually a little bit earlier in my career than the previous story. This person was also a health coach. It started out pretty standard. I honestly couldn't even tell you where this client found me, but we went through my standard intake process. She had some really great ideas of how she wanted her brand to look.
I will point out that at that time, I was just doing straight brand design. There was no strategy involved. In hindsight, that could have probably been part of the problem.
But this was also at a time in my business where I was busier than I ever had been. If you've listened to past episodes, you know I experienced some pretty severe burnout in late 2019. And this project directly contributed to that, I'll be very transparent in saying.
Where Things Went Wrong
The project started out fine. Things were looking good. She was happy with all the drafts I was sending her.
Then I dropped the ball a little bit as far as timeliness and not getting to things as quickly as maybe I had initially promised when we first talked. The client started to get frustrated. She wanted everything now, now, now, now, now... which was not realistic. But I was also not super clear about what the process would realistically look like or how long it would take.
From my end, I definitely was taking longer between drafts than I probably should have been. That said, the actual work was solid. She was happy with everything I was delivering. But it got to a point where she basically said, "This is taking too long. I need it to be done sooner. Please send me my files and I want to cancel our contract."
That sucked to hear. That was really hard. And it was also a big wake-up call for me. Okay, something's got to change in my business.
Shortly after that is when I hired some support, slowed down a little bit, and really took a look at the way I was running my online business and how I was serving my people. That was a huge and very important learning experience for me.
The Context You Don't See
In hindsight, I don't think that client ever launched their business. So it's highly likely there was some other stuff going on behind the scenes that I wasn't privy to that may have contributed to some of that stress and sense of urgency.
And I think that's a really important reminder: you don't know everything your clients are dealing with outside of your project together. There could be business things or life things or who knows what going on that is affecting how they're showing up, how they're communicating with you, and what their expectations are. Frankly, you're never going to know about it.
So always keep in mind that they're living a whole life you're not privy to, and that could be heavily affecting the way they work with you or if they decide to part ways with you.
What This Really Means
Being fired by a client feels like you failed. I know that in some ways in that project, I did fail. But mostly what it means is that our expectations just weren't aligned, and both parties play a role in that.
Now I've taken that experience and made a lot of changes to my process, the way I work, who I work with... all of that stuff. And I would have never learned those lessons if this hadn't happened. So while it was a huge blow to my ego at the time, I'm so grateful that it happened then so I could get to where I am now.
I know that sounds cheesy, and especially if you've recently been fired by a client and you're really in your feelings about it, you're going to be like, "Yeah, whatever, Morgan." But once you get on the other side, I'm confident you'll agree with me too.
Try Not to Take It Personally
When you're in it, this is hard. But a lot of the time, it's not about you. It's about them, and there are probably factors going into it that you'll never know anything about.
Instead of taking it as rejection or heartbreak or failure, try to look at it as objectively as possible and ask yourself: How can I avoid this happening next time? What was not communicated that should have been? How can I make things more clear for the next client?
Red Flags to Watch Out For
Clients who are more focused on speed than quality
Clients who resist your process because they're in a hurry and want to skip steps (I see this with clients who say, "No, I don't need strategy, I just need a logo." Now I know to tell them that's fine, but I'm not your person if that's how you want to do things.)
Communication that starts to feel impatient or transactional
When you set timelines, they agree, then start asking, "Can you get this done any sooner?"
Getting fired by a client sucks. It's really easy to think, "Oh my gosh, that's never happened to anyone else. It's only me." But it's just because nobody's willing to talk about it.
I'm so far on the other side of it now that I'm kind of like, yeah, whatever, it happens. It really sucked at the time. I learned a ton and I'm so grateful for that. And if somebody wants to not hire me now because I'm being open about something that happened in my business six years ago, then they're probably not my person anyway.
Story #3: The Mutual Breakup
Here's the one that I think is sometimes the trickiest to navigate: when neither of you are technically in the wrong, but things just aren't working and you both mutually decide you need to go your separate ways.
This one is the most recent of these three stories. Similarly to the client I fired in the first story, this company was a referral from another client of mine who I had a fabulous time working with. They're a product-based business (and if you've been listening to this show, you know I work with service providers).
But they were a referral, and the person who referred them, I had a really good rapport with. So I was like, you know what? Sure. I'll get on a discovery call with them and we'll chat and see if it's a good fit.
It Seemed Like a Perfect Fit
It seemed like it would be a good fit. I was really aligned with their mission and values. I thought their product was pretty cool. And I was excited to try something different.
We did their discovery call. We did their strategy session. All the boxes were checked. I did not see any red flags. Maybe in five years, I'll be able to look back and see where I could have foreseen this. But until we got into the design phase, I was pumped about this project. I thought it was going to be great. And they were too.
I have multiple emails from them saying, "Oh my gosh, this is so exciting. The strategy intensive we did was so great. It uncovered so much for us." I was exactly their ideal client for a myriad of reasons, so they were really grateful to have my perspective on things, which I appreciated.
When Design Phase Revealed the Cracks
But once we got into the design phase, things started to break down.
From their side, I think they just weren't liking what they were getting or it wasn't what they were expecting or hoping for. And that's fine. That happens sometimes. It's just a stylistic incompatibility, and unfortunately, sometimes there's not a lot you can do about that.
From my side, I think the problem was that they were struggling to stick to their brand strategy that we had laid out. They were constantly asking for something different.
The really big thing here is that they kept wanting designs that were what they liked personally and not really taking into consideration what their audience would resonate with. Without trying to give too much detail away, I'll just tell you they are for sure nowhere in the realm of being their own ideal client.
So for them to say, "Well, we really, really like this" or "This resonates with us" is good to know. And I want them to like their logo. But we're not designing it for them. We're designing it so that when their ideal client walks through a store, they see it on the shelf, pick it up, and say, "What's this?"
For whatever reason, I was not really able to get them on board with that. And that was really unfortunate.
The Professional Decision
At that point, we got through the logo design phase. I made them something that they, I guess, were happy with. To be perfectly honest, I was not happy at all with it. But the client wants what the client wants sometimes.
Then we both mutually decided, "You know what? Let's just call it here. You've got your branding. I think you probably need to find somebody else to help you out with your website."
It was a bummer. I would have loved to finish out the project. But I think we both were feeling like this is just not working for us, so let's end the relationship now in a respectful way where we can both walk away with our heads held high and feeling good about how we handled that.
I think that was the right move. I'm really glad that all of us were self-aware and mature enough to do that in a way that didn't result in anger or bad blood or anything like that. That is honestly one of the things I'm more proud of in my business over the last couple years, as funny as it might sound.
The Lessons from a Mutual Breakup
First and foremost, a lot of times nobody is the bad guy. Nobody's at fault. Misalignment happens. Even when everyone has good intentions, even when you vet your clients really well, even when they check all the boxes and the vibes are good and all of that stuff... sometimes things still just don't work out. And it's okay. It doesn't have to be anybody's fault.
Second, this relates mostly to design, but I think you could apply it to any industry. When clients don't have a clear vision, or they keep changing it, or they don't want to stick to the plan you've laid out, the project is always going to feel unstable. You as an online service provider and them as a client are going to feed off of that energy, and that's never good for anyone.
Third, choosing to walk away doesn't mean you failed. In this case, this was the most professional way for me to handle this. They said so themselves. And it was the best thing I could do to tell them, "Okay, hey, this is obviously not working for either of us. I don't want you to continue paying me and continue getting things you're not happy with."
For me, it was such a mental relief to know, okay, I don't have to keep doing this anymore. A lot of times, choosing to part ways when it's time is really the most professional decision you can make.
A Quick Note About Contracts
I want to talk here for a quick second about contracts. In my contract, I could have enforced that they had to pay me a percentage of whatever was left from their project. I have that in there for a lot of reasons (I'm not going to get into contract law on this episode).
But the thing about contracts is you get to choose whether and when to enforce them. Yes, I could have said, "Sure, we can stop the project, but you owe me another couple thousand dollars."
But I just didn't feel good about that. I had been paid for the work I had done so far, and I was fine in that specific instance with saying, "Yeah, we'll just call it here. You get all the files I've worked on. I'll keep all the money you've paid me so far, and no harm, no foul. We'll go our separate ways."
That's not always going to be the case, but in this case, it was.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
Clients who are too focused on themselves and not focused enough on their ideal client
People who are changing their mind a lot and giving you inconsistent feedback (one week they love something, the next week they want to change everything completely)
Clients who dismiss your professional recommendations or ignore the plan or strategy you agreed upon
Unfortunately, I don't think any of those were things I could have seen before I agreed to take on the project. Sometimes you just don't know until you know, and that's an unfortunate reality of doing business.
The Real Point I Want to Make
These experiences happen to every single online service provider, no matter how established and skilled they are. I promise you every business owner out there has had an experience like one of these. They're just not talking about it because it's embarrassing.
When this happens to you, the best thing you can do is learn from it. And I'll say that I recommend taking some time before you try to learn from these things. In the moment, it's fine to just say, "You know what? That really sucked. Today was not a good day." That's fine. You don't need to immediately get over it and start taking notes.
But a few weeks or a couple months down the road, try to objectively look back and say, "Okay, where did this go wrong? How can I avoid this happening next time?" I'm pretty sure there will be changes you can make to your process, things you can know to look out for with future clients... any of those types of things that can help you improve your online business.
Every tough client situation teaches you something about your ideal client, your boundaries, your communication style, your process... all of those things so you can make your business better.
Three Big Words of Wisdom
First: Know your ideal client and only work with them. When you compromise on this (or at least in my case, every time I've compromised), it has almost always gone sideways.
Second: Don't take things personally. I know this is easier said than done. But like I said earlier, clients have a whole life you don't know anything about. They leave for their own reasons, and you'll probably never find out what those real reasons are.
Third: Holding your boundaries doesn't make you a jerk. It makes you a good business owner and a good leader.
It Doesn't Define Your Success
Firing a client, getting fired by a client, or mutually parting ways is rough. But it does not define your success.
What defines your success is how you handle it... which should be with clarity, with compassion, with integrity, and in a way that leaves you able to hold your head up high.
Because at the end of the day, cheesy as it sounds, every failure is just feedback that gets you closer to the business you've been trying to build.
If you have a firing story you'd be willing to share, I'd love to hear about it. Slip into my Instagram DMs and let's chat and swap stories. I promise I won't share it with anyone, but I love chatting about the real, raw, vulnerable bits of business. And I think this is one of the biggest ones there is.
🔗 Links & Resources Mentioned In The Episode:
➡️ Follow me on Instagram @spechtand.co
➡️ Grab The Stand Out Brand Foundations Workbook
➡️ Book Your Stand Out Brand Strategy Session (use code SFBPOD for $100 off)
🎧 Listen to episode 37 of The Six Figure Brand Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and YouTube
