At Southern Social, our clients are our family. We welcome them into our agency like welcoming our friends and family into our home. We truly understand and empathize with the devastating loss of losing a client. A client is far more than a business transaction. We pour our heart and soul into helping our clients succeed, and when a client leaves, a bit of our hearts go with them too. 

Feeling the loss? We’ve rounded up some of the ways that have helped us learn how to deal with losing a client, and most importantly— how we move onward and upward. 

While easier said than done, don’t take it personally

It can be hard not to take your client’s departure personally—especially when you’ve welcomed them in like family. But it’s important to remember that their decision to leave has more to do with their own business needs than it has to do with you. 

Oftentimes, your client doesn’t understand the true scope of social media, and that it takes time to see results. If a client left because they weren’t seeing results fast enough, use other client success stories and testimonials to ensure new and existing clients that the hard work and time pays off, even if the results aren’t immediate. 

Continue to share your value to your existing clients to remind them why your services are worth it. If budget cuts are needed, make it easy for your clients to keep your business booked. 

There are many reasons a client may decide to leave, but so long as you continue to remind yourself and your clients of your value, it will help you understand that losing a client isn’t personal. And the clients who truly understand your value will stay and share their positive experience with others. 

Shift your focus to existing clients

Let’s be real. The easiest customer to acquire is the one already paying you. Rather than stress about attracting new clients, look to the ones who already hire you and see if there are ways you can offer additional services. This is a practice you can do every quarter, and not just when you lose a client. 

The idea here is to think about your business as a whole, finding new ways to increase revenue without simply increasing your roster. 

Motivate your team to get back to work

Any kind of setback can make it hard to find the energy and motivation to get back to work, but now more than ever is the time to put in some serious effort and work hard. Find fun and inspiring ways to motivate your team to keep trucking on and putting in the work. 

While we support a healthy work-life balance, losing a client may put some things on the line. Until you get back up on your feet, know that you may have to put in some extra hours and give up some weekend time. 

Most importantly, remember that this isn’t a season that will last forever. The hard work will pay off, and you’ll be in a great position to take some time off and reinvest in your self-care. 

Avoid letting the same thing happen again

A healthy business should never depend solely on one client. Rather than lining up a few big clients, invest your efforts in taking on more small clients. If a small client decides to leave, it will be less of a blow if that client isn’t contributing to twenty percent of your revenue. 

Replace one of your larger clients with several smaller clients to replace that revenue lost. This will protect your business in the future if one decides to leave. 

The loss of a client is out of your control

It’s important to remember that you can’t force your clients to stay, and the loss of a client is simply out of your control. Setting up ways to protect yourself and your business in the future is essential to keeping your cool if a client breaks up with you. 

Remind yourself of everything that is in your control and make a list of all of the things you can do. 

Whatever it is that you can’t control… well, you simply have to let that go.

Remember, setbacks are temporary

When it comes to experiencing the loss of a client, it’s important to take control of the energy in your business. Make sure that your team knows this setback is only temporary. Communicate effectively with your team about your plan to overcome this setback and what will be required of everyone to move forward. 

An empowered team will feel a sense of ownership and be ready and willing to ride out the storm with you.