First, recognizing that clients come and go is a major part of being a business owner. As a paralegal, we want our attorneys to be happy with our work product but like any career, choosing to mutually end a contract or discontinuing services can happen at any time. Additionally, there is no need to harp on the “why” this happened. I find that to be fairly unproductive UNLESS it’s to make improvements in areas that you can see need some refining. A lot of times, especially as a new freelance paralegal. You might dwell on the fact that you’ve lost a client for a very long time and that will only hinder your growth. Take it as a moment to reflect and regroup, but continue to push on . Like any business, people are going to have their opinions about how you operate or what didn’t work and that’s OK. So let’s break this down into parts.
Why Did You Loose the Client?
Why did the client decide to end their contract with you? Well there can be several reasons. Maybe too many mistakes were made, maybe they needed to go with a company that offered the same services but for cheaper, maybe the client was simply poached by another vendor. Who knows, but what you can’t do is remain in the why stage. Clients come and go right. You don’t necessarily want them to, but everyone has free will to choose what’s best for their company, what’s best for them and if you no longer suit their plan, then by all means, it’s time for all parties to move on. If you able to easily identify the why and it involves something like you dropping the ball, than immediately take action and make the necessary adjustments. The expression ” No excuses” comes to mind. If something needs to adjusted in order to preserve the integrity of your business, do it without hesitation. Moving on to the next topic, what is your process for finalizing a client relationship?
Finalizing A Client Relationship:
In terms of the process of how you may end that client relationship well, that will vary for every freelance paralegal. Similar to how attorney’s withdraw from a case, chose the method that works best for you. I find closing out any balances that may be outstanding is priority numero uno. Should the client ignore that balance, sending a letter to their address on file is a nice gentle reminder. Should that reminder be ignored, maybe you offer a discount off the remaining balance to see if the person will bite. Last resort, we’ll if you are familiar with the collections process use it to your advantage. If receiving your final payment is not an issue, sending a letter simply confirming or reiterating that they are no longer working with you or your company, that services have terminated and that there’s nothing outstanding is a great professional way to mark an end. If you happen to have any of their physical files or items that belong to them, go ahead and send that back to them.
Don’t Give Up:
Please do not assume this is the end of your business or career. Remember, attorney’s take bad cases all the time. What do they do? they follow the steps needed to relinquish their title as a person’s representative and they go on about their business. Life keeps going and business continues as normal. A strong suit as a business owner is to continue to stay true to your brand, true to what you believe in and never feel compelled to do anything different to satisfy somebody else. While I do understand the nervousness behind losing clients in this economic climate, never forget that what is meant for you will always come to you. Implementing better strategies and tightening up your business practices may be the simple lesson needed from this experience. In the meantime, what will keep you going and elevate your business is your ability to bounce back and to do so stronger than ever. You will gain more clients and in particular, clients that are aligned with your business model and beliefs.
Too often the new freelance paralegal will try to base their company model on the “client is always right” scenario. That model is outdated. Again, think about how many times you’ve seen an attorney withdraw from a case because a client is not obliging by certain standards or agreements that they have with their attorney. You’ve probably seen it quite often and even drafted the withdrawal documents. So why would a paralegal feel that it’s any different should they need to end a relationship with an attorney ? Especially if that client is no longer working in harmony with the paralegal? To round it all up, whenever you lose a client do not sweat it. Do not give up. Continue to do what you know best and should you determine that there are things that could be corrected and refined of course make the adjustments but business is a trusting game where you have to trust yourself and that the next client will be better.
Conclusion
Should you lose a client, keep pressing forward. You may revisit the issues that caused that client to leave and make some adjustments but also remember not every client is a good fit for you either. Some clients will say they have their things together, and when you start to deep dive into their files or their processes, you may see otherwise. Some clients may talk to you in such a way that does not fit your standard of how you expect to be treated or maybe they just don’t pay on time. Remember, it does go both ways and therefore, there should be no hard feelings if they decide to move on. You learn from the experience, what did not work you revise your protocols and you keep pressing forward. I know I said that a lot but I want to make sure it’s ingrained in your mind.