Magnus Marketing Blog

The link to Inc Magazine talks about terminating relationships with clients. As a company grows or a business starts to gain momentum, it is a natural process to shed clients that do not fit the model or cause problems.

Recently, I had the unfortunate task of terminating a long standing relationship with a client. It was a relationship that had a "friendship" component as well as a business relationship. In this case, the client refused to pay for services rendered - or as related to me, it would be the company's decision as to whether to authorize payment for work done and decide how much to actually pay. The issue also was that I had engaged the services of my associate to assist on the project who put in work and had to be paid. We were talking a matter of a few hundred dollars for many hours of research and execution work, not thousands. I had even made the mistake of discounting the fee because the work was largely administrative, not the usual or core type of research I and my associates do. The response I received was - I will gift you half the amount and never use me as a reference ever again. Nice guy! After all the work and good work I delivered previously!

When someone threatens not to pay for services rendered or empowers himself to decide how much to pay, that is the end of the relationship. I cannot trust that any work undertaken will ever be treated with the respect and value that is deserved. There were other situations with this client, the "gracious half amount" was the straw. I paid my associate and paid myself zero. My associates come first.

I also will never tolerate, as the Inc article relates, the berating or abuse of myself or my staff. I had enough crap delivered to me as an employee, I certainly will not be subjected to it as an independent contractor or CEO of a company, nor will I allow anyone who works with or for me to be subjected to that. No demands, no disrespect, no beration. Take it elsewhere buddy. The demotivation, as Norm Brodsky relates, will kill my business.

Micromanagement is another thing I won't tolerate. You engage me to do a job because I am an expert at what I do. The minute a client tells me what to do, how to do it, how many meetings to set up, and what I should know - bye-bye. I didn't tolerate micromanagers as an employee, can't function well unless I have complete autonomy, and I won't tolerate it as an independent.

My business is about business development, if I can't get new clients then it reflects on my own capability. I believe in complete customer service also and will go out of my way to help people who need it. In return, however, I expect to be paid for my services, treated as an expert, listened to when I provide feedback or advice, and treated with respect. And, no B.S. either.