How to Survive Being Dropped By a Client
There’s nothing like the comfort of steady work when you’re a full-time freelancer. When every month is filled with clients, plenty of fulfilling assignments, and your finances look nice and healthy, freelancing feels like the greatest job in the world.
Until work dries up.
Every freelancer I know goes through periods of quieter months. This is natural and part of the freelancing lifestyle, especially when clients go through quiet spells themselves or you naturally come to the end of a project you’ve been working on. So long as you keep working, pitching and reaching out to new clients (or following up with existing ones), you’ll see it through. What can feel worse though, is a client you’ve come to rely on for a significant chunk of your income to suddenly decide they no longer want to work with you. Full stop.
This has happened to me a few times over the years, and it can feel really debilitating. A whirl of self-doubt can take over as you start to question what happened. Did you drop the ball somewhere? Has the quality or consistency of your work dropped? Have you lost sight of what you’re supposed to be delivering? Have you been complacent?
If you’re a freelancer, I can almost guarantee that the answer to all of these questions is a big fat no.
Freelancing is not a career path someone chooses lightly, especially if they’re prone to ‘dropping the ball’ or becoming complacent. In my experience, a client dropping me was usually the result of one of the following:
They hired someone internally to take over the work, and no longer needed a consistent freelancer.
Business restructuring meant the closing down of the department and projects I was working with/on.
They had everything they needed, content-wise, and no longer needed my services.
So, nothing really to do with me. And this is often the case. A couple of times, I have had a client honestly tell me that they were hiring another freelancer whose fees were lower than mine. On both occasions, I thanked them for the honesty, wished them luck and told them not to feel shy about asking me to do more work for them in the future (which one of them did when they realised you get what you’re prepared to pay for).
When a client decides they no longer want to work with you, it’s important to see it as an opportunity and make sure you don’t burn bridges - you never know if they might need you in the future. Here are three things I absolutely ensure I do when a client lets me know we’ll no longer be working together.
Get Feedback - I always make sure I ask for honest feedback. Are there any areas I can improve on or anything that would have made the working relationship we had smoother? Clients are perfectly placed to give you these insights. Make sure you take them on board and action anything that could make your next client relationship better.
Ask for a Testimonial - I generally try to get a testimonial earlier on in a client relationship, after I’ve completed one or two pieces of work they’ve loved - it’s just good practice while the relationship is fresh. But if I didn’t then I definitely make sure I get one at this point. Testimonials are great when pitching to new clients and building your credibility.
Check for Referrals - Once I get over the thought that I’m being dumped, my next concern is making sure I don’t have a financial deficit. A client you’ve built a successful relationship with is a great advocate for your work. Checking in to see whether they have a professional or personal connection who might need your services is a great way to find new clients.
If you’re genuinely committed to your work, and a die-hard professional, it’s very rare you’ll be dropped because of your work or because you’ve failed in some capacity. That said if you do get feedback that says you’re being dropped because your work isn’t up to scratch - make sure you utilise this feedback.
Every ‘failure’ is a lesson in disguise. Ensure you respond from a place of growth and opportunity, not a place of ego or negativity. Make a plan to improve and overcome setbacks and skills gaps, ready to do better next time.
As a freelancer, many clients and organisations I work with see me as very autonomous and independent - I’m not as tied to their business as say a contracted employee. Many people assume freelancers have a host of clients and revenue streams under their belt, so letting them know they no longer need their services, doesn’t make them feel bad. That’s a part of why they work with freelancers - it’s flexible for them too.
Being dropped by clients will happen multiple times across a freelancing career. I’ve had clients I’ve worked with for four years, and some I only worked with for four months. You need a thick skin to make sure you don’t take this on as an emotional burden - it’s another part of the freelancing lifestyle that it pays to get comfortable with so you can learn from it, get over it and keep on doing what you do best.
About Elaine Mead
Elaine is a freelance copy and content writer, editor and proofreader, currently based in Hobart Tasmania. Her work has been published internationally in both print and digital publications, including with Darling Magazine, Healthline, Wild Wellbeing, Live Better Magazine, Writer's Edit and others. She is the in-house book reviewer for Aniko Press and a dabbler in writing very short fiction. You can find more of her words at wordswithelaine.com
