You Are Going To Screw Up
A few months ago, I lost a client. He simply sent me an email that said something like “I want to take a break from using your services for awhile.” There hadn’t been any complaints on either side, or at least none voiced. As far as I could tell, we had an amiable working relationship. But, since I am fairly paranoid, and really do strive to provide outstanding service, I asked if he was unhappy, and if so, could I have a chance to remedy the situation. He didn’t respond.
It will be okay. You don’t have to be sad.
Now there could be a million reasons that he wanted to take a break, and it took me a few days to convince myself that answering the question about whether or not he was unhappy with my service might have made him uncomfortable. Maybe he was having money troubles, but didn’t want to say so. Maybe I had somehow offended him, but he doesn’t like confrontation. Maybe he just overlooked the email. Eventually, I had to come to terms with the idea that, even if I had somehow messed up, it’s okay.
No matter how hard you try to please everyone you work with, no matter how much time you spend tweaking your site, your newsletter, your invoices – every customer touchpoint – there is still the chance that you will inadvertently do something that one of your customers doesn’t like. Sometimes you never even know that you did something “wrong.” Worrying about what might have gone wrong is pointless.
The best thing to do is to carry on, doing the best job you can for your current and future customers. Just keep on being as helpful as you can be. Strive to make sure there are more people who are happy with what you do than those who are not.
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Yeah, I used to really fret when I would lose a client (still do to a certain extent). It’s the ones who leave for no apparent reason that bother me the most – usually, if I’ve made a mistake, I have the opportunity to fix the problem. If I don’t know why they left, though, I can’t do anything about it.
Thanks for commenting! It’s the not knowing that’s the hard part – at least for me. When I KNOW I messed up, at least I can apologize.
By the way, I was so excited to see that you are a CPA – our accountant isn’t doing taxes after this year – but then so bummed to see you are in Cleveland.
Are you in Chattanooga? I have several Chattanooga clients (I’ve actually got clients in States as far away as Massachusetts and California – Technology makes the world smaller), and am in Chattanooga at least once a week.
Yes, I’m near Chattanooga. Good to know! We will definitely keep you in mind.
I totally hear you, Dava. Anytime I don’t hear back from editor I automatically believe they don’t like my writing. Writing is such a personal activity. It becomes very difficult to seperate yourself from your work.
Writing is personal, but I think any business activity – any human interaction, even – is just as fraught with opportunities for worry and insecurity.
Great message, Dava. Sometimes they get bored. Sometimes they think you’re the cause of the boredom. Or they expect you to solve all their operational problems through text. Or they think you dress like a geek. Or they have a cousin who fashions himself a writer.
To that you can only say “Whatever.”
I’ve lost good clients and bad clients. Some with an explanation, many without. You get to a point where you can feel it coming. It’s okay. It’s just one door closing making way for another one to open.
Lori, that is a fantastic way to look at it! Thanks for dropping by and commenting.