I really only have one rule when it comes to who I’ll work with–no assholes. I’m probably pickier about it than most VAs I know because that type of work stress makes me physically ill. It’s just not worth it.
I’ve learned when to fire a client the hard way. A few years ago, I had a client who was what I loving refer to as “high touch”. He was a perfectionist who liked to text me at all hours and get upset when I didn’t respond to his emails the second he hit send.
When my health crashed days before a big webinar we were planning, I wasn’t surprised. And it wasn’t just a little flare either. It was the type of sick where you’re just praying you don’t have to be hospitalized. There was absolutely no way I could work.
I had followed my plan to prepare my business for these circumstances–I worked on a team with amazing women who picked up the slack. I had plans in one place for them to follow so it was easy to hand things off. I communicated clearly with him about what was going on.
But when I made it back to the computer a few days later, he said, “I don’t appreciate you ignoring my business while you were sick. If this launch fails, it’s on your shoulders.”
It was terrifying to walk away from that client. He made up the majority of my income, meaning I was going to struggle to eat without that money. But I knew in my heart that no amount of money made that treatment okay. So I gave him notice that I was stepping away from the contract, wrapped up the launch, and moved on.
When I’m struggling to figure out when to fire a client, here are the three questions I ask myself:
Where is the communication breakdown?
100% of the major issues I’ve had with clients had to do with how we were communicating with each other. While we often like to believe it’s the other person’s fault, there are moments when it’s really my lack of communication around an issue that’s at the heart of the problem.
Take a second to look at the problem objectively. Get advice from your mentor or biz bestie. Talk to your partner or another loved one. Look for the patterns of behavior you’re both in and where you could easily improve how you’re communicating the problems that you’re seeing.
What have I done to fix this?
I get it–there are moments when you’re ready to step away in frustration. Find a loved one or friend and vent for a few minutes. Take 30 minutes to watch your favorite TV show or listen to a podcast. Reach out to your mentor for support. (Whatever you do, do NOT respond to that email with what you’re really thinking!)
When you come back to your desk, ask yourself what you can do to make it right. This could mean having an honest conversation with the client about your frustrations or observations. You might need to be more firm about your boundaries or deadlines. Yes, I know it’s difficult to speak up and have that conversation with the client. But being passive aggressive when things are falling apart doesn’t work.
What happens when I fire them?
I had a client who refused to let go of control of anything in her business. It made it impossible for me to get anything done on time because she would redo absolutely everything. I had communicated my observations and concerns to her. I had tried shifting how often I communicated and set deadlines. Nothing worked.
When I realized our working relationship was over, I proactively made sure that all of the outstanding things on my to-do list were complete. I took a week to update all of her standard operating procedures and her project management tool so she knew where key projects were at. Only after all of that was done did I give my 30-day notice. In my experience, many clients will ask you to step away quickly (if not immediately) once you have this conversation so you’re saving yourself a lot of scrambling if you do this ahead of time.
So let’s hear it–have you had to fire a client? How did you handle it?
