When Is It Time To Break Up with a Client?
How do you know when its time to break up with a client? ☺
As an entrepreneur, this is a difficult question that I have not had to deal with very often until recently. I was in Los Angeles recently and one of my clients thanked me for being so tenacious. She said she really appreciated my follow up on a project we were working on. As a designer who handles the entire process from the first sketch through production with the China factories, it is my job to make sure I keep everything running smoothly and on time.
I offer the same level of communication and follow-up regardless if it's a large chain store or a small online business. I want everyone to get their orders on time and I want to make sure that I am doing everything to make the process go well.
I recently had a client that placed an order with one of my factories in China. The factory issued a Proforma Invoice for their order. I followed up to get their logo on the pre-production samples. Without the logo, we cannot make a pre-production sample for their approval. I asked several times over the next 3 weeks for the logo and the deposit. Finally, in the last email, the client said that I was harassing them. Wow. Harassing? I had to look that up in the dictionary!
ha·rass
(hə-răs′, hăr′əs)That is when I knew it was time to break up. I have never been told I was harassing a customer in the past 18 years that I have been in the fashion industry. Never.
Sometimes in life, it's OK to break up. It is just not the right fit. Maybe it's a personality thing or maybe it's the Universe telling you to move on. When I first started in the industry as an independent designer I was a YES woman. Now I am a YES or NO woman.
Part of being successful in the fashion industry is knowing when it is not the right fit. In the meantime, I will continue to be tenacious.
Ciao for now!
 |
| "Sauvage" means Savage in French |
Comments