You did what? I hear you saying. But yes – I did just that. I gave away a client, to one of my competitors.
But why?
Well, it made sense.
I had already suggested they work with my competitor, who could support them with a specific area that we couldn’t help them with.
The idea was, the contract would be with us, and we would subcontract to the other business. It was all agreed, and in place, and we set up our on-boarding meeting. It then became clear, that this client could get all the support they needed, from my competitor.
Making me a middleman, or a third wheel-quite unnecessary in the scheme of things.
So, I made a decision. To hand over the client to my competitor, in full. This meant I would lose the client, but it was better for them in the long run.
The client would get all the support they needed, with one point of contact. To me, that was all that mattered.
I’ve been called stupid for handing them over, but I disagree. Surely, what the client needs, far outweighs my needs. Plus, it didn’t feel right, taking their money, when I was literally doing nothing.
The client was happy, that we had put her needs, over anything else, and that made it worthwhile.
So, there you go.
The reason why I gave away a client. Hopefully it’s not something I will need to do very often, but I will, if it’s the best thing for my client.
