I am Dr. Hassan, a Board-Certified Physiatrist and Independent Practice Owner. I help physiatrists start and grow their own profitable practices so they can achieve financial independence and live without limits.
In a perfect world, every client would be amazing. They would always pay you on time and tell you how much they love your work. The dream customer would give you referrals to other awesome clients and help you reach every one of your business goals. If you live in such a reality, thank your lucky stars. The truth of the matter is that most business owners have good customers, bad customers, and most of their clients are somewhere in between those two extremes. Sometimes you might be thinking about parting ways, and the reasons have nothing to do with your client. You’re just going in a new direction. Whatever the reason for moving on, here are a few best practices for terminating a relationship with your client. They allow you to maintain a healthy relationship and minimize any potential negative outcomes for your business and reputation.
Ask yourself a few questions
This process is all about you, not your client. What’s making you think about doing this? What are the pros and cons
this client offers? Could you just take a break and return to the relationship later? Does divorcing this client help you achieve your business goals? Ask these in any other relevant questions. And be very honest and objective with your answers.
Make it about you, not them
Perhaps you have a client who is very demanding and quite frankly difficult to deal with. Even if this is the case, the conversation you have when ending the relationship needs to be framed around you. Maybe you’ve been working on exploring new opportunities. You’ve totally changed your business model and what you’re going to be doing. You’re taking a long-term vacation from this type of work and don’t know if you’ll return. This places no type of blame on your client. And that’s always a smart move.
Give them some advance notice
You might not want to do this. You’re dealing with the worst client in human history, and you want this to be over with now. Take a step back. Breathe a few deep breaths and contemplate the damage to your reputation a hasty divorce can have. Give your client some advance notice and agree on an exit date.
Provide answers Be ready for questions, then provide answers. You can also give much needed help find a replacement for yourself and your business. This can ease the transition for your client and ensure a friendly separation.
Always keep your business goals in mind. Don’t part ways with a client as a knee jerk reaction to a recent transaction. Go through the process we just covered. This can make an inconvenient situation easier for both parties. It helps minimize any potential damage to your business and more importantly, your reputation.
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Having the right mindset is essential for times when you have to end a client relationship. Check out our blog post here to learn about how an entrepreneurial mindset impacts your assets.
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I’m Dr. Hassan, a Board-Certified Physiatrist and Independent Practice Owner. I help physiatrists start and grow their own profitable practices so they can achieve financial independence and live without limits. Please go to businessofrehab.com/contractnegotiations to pick up the free guide to help you negotiate the contract of your dreams.
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