327 - The Top 5 Ways to Lose Existing Clients - With Chris Do

In this quick yet impactful solo episode, Chris Do outlines the five biggest mistakes creatives make that risk losing their clients. From the pitfalls of poor responsiveness and inflexibility to the dangers of unclear processes and taking client relationships for granted, Chris offers practical advice on how to safeguard and nurture these valuable connections.

He emphasizes the importance of keeping clients informed, creating inclusive communication, and consistently engaging in dialogue to ensure alignment and trust. This episode provides essential insights for creatives aiming to build lasting client relationships and avoid common missteps.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction to solo episode

(00:38) Importance of client retention

(01:00) Mistake 1: Lack of responsiveness

(01:51) Mistake 2: Inflexibility and resistance to input

(03:00) Mistake 3: Unclear process or next steps

(04:13) Mistake 4: Expecting clients to speak “creative language”

(05:39) Mistake 5: Taking relationships for granted

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, everybody.
Chris here we're tryingsomething a little bit different
than what we normally do forthe podcast.
We're doing solo episodes.
These are shorter, morecontained, built around certain themes
and questions I think are veryrelevant for us to be talking about.
So wherever you're listeningto this, however you're seeing this,
let us know in the commentsand the feedback what you think and
we'll make some adjustments.

(00:31):
Foreign welcome to a supershort episode of the Future.
Today we're going to talkabout the five things that creatives
do to lose clients.
Clients that are so hard to get.
Some of the best ways that youcan lose a client, and you have to
keep in mind it's really hardto get a client in the first place.
So you need to treat them likethe goal that they are.

(00:54):
Especially when you're youngand you feel like you're God's gift
to whatever it is that you do,then you can take it for granted
and think, well, I'm the giftand they should be so grateful to
work with me.
A is when you're not being responsive.
That's one of the best ways tolose a client.
When they ask you forsomething and it takes hours, days,
weeks for you to respond.
For whatever reason, thatshould never happen.

(01:15):
I don't mean to say you're ontheir beck and call and there's a
hotline to your personalphone, but you should have systems
in place that people are responding.
And sometimes when you don'thave a really good answer, the best
response is just to say, received.
We are processing.
I will get back to you as soonas I have a good answer for you.
So just make sure.
Responsiveness is somethingthat I use to measure whether or
not I'm going to hire somebody.

(01:35):
And at the very early stages,if you're not responsive, you're
not going to get the project.
Number two is to be completely inflexible.
There's certain latitude thatyou have to kind of keep in mind
that when you're working withsomeone else, whether it's a team
of two or a team of 2,000,it's a collaborative effort and to
never close yourself off frominput from your clients.

(01:56):
It is a natural thing forcreative people to feel like, I have
the ideas.
You hired me, I'm the expert,so let me do my thing and don't mess
it up.
That kind of attitudesometimes, even though you're not
literally doing anything, canbe felt.
And people are very sensitiveto these kinds of attitude.
Like you give them a weirdlook, you side eye Them you roll
your eye, you let out and theystart to feel that and then they

(02:20):
feel like they're beingpunished for trying to contribute
to the project.
I have to say this, thatsometimes when you're working with
really good clients, they willask you to do something that's really
difficult.
And I don't try to measure ifit's difficult.
If I should do, I always askmyself, is that a better idea?
If it's a better idea, I do itand I'm grateful for it.
And if you do that, then youare inviting them to feel like they're

(02:42):
a collaborator.
And no one wants to feel likethey're just money, that they want
to feel like they've had ahand in it big and small.
So make sure you're more openminded to collaboration and to input.
Number three, when you onboarda client and the feelings are high,
you need to make sure you havea very clear process and don't leave
them asking what happens next.

(03:03):
You should take the initiative.
Thank you for signing thepurchase order.
We're going to send you aninvoice and here's what's going to
happen next.
And the more you have a systemin place, the more they're going
to feel at ease.
Because only people who havedone things many times have a system
in place.
It makes it feel like you'rean experienced professional and they're
in good hands.
And the whole point of it isyou're selling not what you do, but

(03:25):
you're selling peace of mind,having a clearly defined structure
and process.
A system in place.
Here's what happens next willhelp you communicate that in literal
terms and figurative terms.
It's time for a quick break,but we'll be right back.

(03:47):
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(04:07):
Okay, back to the conversation.
And we're back.
Welcome back to our conversation.
Number four is to realize thatyour clients hired you because you
are the professional and notto expect them to have the language
to so carefully articulate thethings that you understand in the

(04:29):
language that you know.
There's no point to hire youif they can do that.
So you want to make it feelsafe for them to be able to say in
non technical terms, using nonjargon, non specific language, what
they want and for you to thendialogue with them, ask them deep
follow up questions to get towhat it is that they want.
And then the way that you dothat is after asking all those questions

(04:50):
is you play back.
Here's what I heard you say,here's the objective that you want
and this is how we will do it.
Do you have any questions?
Always ask that question atthe end.
Do you have any questions?
Is that clear?
And is there anything thatyou're not 100% certain about?
Because I want to talk it through.
Sometimes in you describingwhat it is you're going to do, you'll
default to language that you understand.

(05:12):
It'll make you feel reallysmart and feel like you're an expert
and you'll intimidate theclient to the point in which they
just go along with it versusagreeing to it, which is a very different
thing.
You get a false yes from them,you do the thing and then you show
them the work.
And, and you're so excitedabout showing them work and they
have a reaction you never wantto hear like, oh, that's not what
I was expecting when you saidyou were going to do X.

(05:34):
So make sure you're inclusivein your language.
And you continue to ask them,are we on the same page?
Do you understand?
And the last point, the bestway you can lose a client is to just
take the relationship forgranted that everything's always
working and that they onlycall you when they need something.
And what happens in thesemoments, like usually it's like three,
four, five months intorelationship, you've fallen into

(05:55):
rhythm, everybody's doing whatthey need to do.
Don't forget to call up yourclient to go over progress and to
just dialogue with them abouttheir impressions about what's going
on or future things that mightbe coming down the pipeline.
This is really important fornot only maintaining the relationship,
but potentially opening doorsfor newer opportunities so that the
scope can increase.

(06:16):
So if you're dialoguing withthem, you're making sure the team's
doing good job.
And this is a really importantthing because sometimes the team
that you put in place will nottell you they're having challenges
with a client until it's too late.
Until the client says, youknow what, I don't want to work with
you anymore.
It started out great, yourteam isn't getting it.
And now that bridge is brokenand there's no way you can get back

(06:38):
across.
Maintain constant communication.
When I say constant, there's a cadence.
Maybe it's in the beginning acouple of times a week and then once
every other week, and thenonce a month, but not less than once
a month.
Make sure you give themvaluable information, insights, analytical
data that's driving some ofthe things that you're doing that
reminds them that they'remaking progress towards their goal.

(06:58):
It makes them feel like you'reon top of it and that you care deeply
about their business, but alsoopens the doors for new opportunities.
Thanks for joining us.
If you haven't already,subscribe to our show on your favorite
podcasting app and get newinsightful episodes from us every

(07:19):
week.
The Future Podcast is hostedby Chris do and produced and edited
by Rich Cardona Media.
Thank you to Adam Sanborn forour intro music.
If you enjoyed this episode,then do us a favor by reviewing and
rating our show on Apple Podcasts.
It will help us grow the showand make future episodes that much

(07:39):
better.
If you'd like to support theshow and invest in yourself while
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design and the creative business.
Thanks again for listening andwe'll see you next time.