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I met with my therapist and asked, in so many words, what I’m doing wrong with clients who seem to not take my business and policies seriously. Wow, I should’ve broken up that sentence.
My therapist, who coincidentally has a Business degree, encouraged me to politely end a client’s project and suggest to the client they find someone else to complete the work. She introduced me to the term Termination of Services. In short, I write a letter (email) explaining why I’m ceasing work on the project and list all the relevant details.
Not directly related, I also shared with my therapist that another client has delayed their project because they won’t respond to emails. I guess I was feeling snitch-y.
A little background
Here’s little bit of background on this particular client. Like all my client projects, I create a milestone timeline, spell-out the dates on the contract, and complete the project inside the time I’ve given. It’s something that keeps me on task. More importantly, it puts on paper answers to questions for the client like what’s due and when, so I don’t have to.
What went wrong with this client is that I scheduled a meeting, and the client no-showed. According to my terms, I charge $25 to reschedule no-showed appointments. I didn’t charge and rescheduled the appointment — an error that’s on me. So, I rescheduled the meeting, and damned if the client didn’t no show again! Un-f******-believable, right?
As a result, my timeline for the project was blown. I needed content and information that was in my client’s brain to finish and launch a completed website project. Ultimately, I started school full time at NSS, and the client’s project, now overdue, got filed under get around to it status — what I call space available. Space Available is a term used in the Air Force for catching a flight on a air craft that has unfilled seats.
Decision to Terminate Services
As I was explaining the circumstances to my therapist, she made solid points like the following:
- The project going over schedule isn’t my fault;
- I have to follow through with my policies;
- That holding onto the project is causing my extra stress
Really good points, right?
For whatever reason, it hadn’t crossed my mind to end the project without finishing it. I’ve felt some level of obligation. I’ve been nice about it. Yesterday when the client texted and asked if I had a projected completed time, I said that I didn’t and that “ I am working on it when I have extra time.” It’s a completely accurate statement, and I only point that out to give context to how much I still feel obliged to do the work.
I think I’ll explain in the termination of services that I will continue the client’s project once she pays for both the no show appointments. Also, I’ll be clear that I’ll be available to restart work on the project after I graduate NSS in February 2022. That way, I’m letting my client know that I’m not abandoning her and the project, and it’s understood that I’m not signing back on for free.