Photo credit: Henrico Prins (Creative Commons)
Without an MBA or an experience in sales, I have obtained clients in the Middle East, Canada and Greece. While obtaining clients is difficult, it’s easier to lose clients.
Here are a few ways to lose clients.
A. Unmet demands.
If a client is hazy on their demands during the documentation phase and you don’t fulfill their demands during execution phase, then you are likely to lose clients. Most clients are understanding but if there is a huge misunderstanding between what you can execute and what you have promised then be careful.
B. Breach of confidentiality.
Clients usually sign up a NDA( non disclosure agreement ) before a project is confirmed but even clients who don’t ask for one, trust that their project details are safe with you. So if you share sensitive information with a competitor or the final client so that you can win the project, then in the long run you might end up losing the client.
C. Losing your advantage.
If your advantage is your superior service and support but the client can manage with a fresher with bad service and support then clients will terminate your services. Your services has to be economical and also meaningful so that clients don’t look for competitors or in house teams. You need to have a proven track record and build a good working relationship with the clients.
Since executing projects with multiple clients running at the same time, I have experienced first hand the effects of these scenarios in losing clients.
Do you feel there are any other reasons for losing clients, please drop in your comments so that I can also learn.
