How to politely fire/handball a client?

Business
1

I have read many articles on SitePoint and other blogs about firing clients…but I still have yet to master the art!

I have a client whose project is months behind schedule due to scope increases upon scope increases and client delays upon client delays. It is near to completion, relatively speaking, but it will still be a lot more work to finalise it (but the stage we’re at, it will definitely seem close to completion from the client’s point of view). The last missed deadline was last October, due to client delays. They now want to commence the final stage with the content they have now got 90% ready but have also said a lot of changes need to be made to the content that I have already worked on…and they want all this to be treated as a matter of urgency. The thing is, I’m fully booked up for at least the next 4-6 weeks, and as this client is quite unpredictable when it comes to sticking to schedules, I don’t want to find a way to squeeze it in. They’re a nice enough person so I really don’t want to seem rude or unprofessional, but I really want to handball the remainder of the project to another designer (I have someone in mind and hope they’re open to it).

Mid last year I said no to a deadline the client wanted to set, and gave the honest reason - that I would have to defer my university study for a semester in order to meet it - and they backed down. So I think they might be willing to negotiate on the deadline this time too, as they are very friendly and mean well…but despite that, I still really want to handball the job to someone who isn’t as busy as me at the moment (all it does now is cause me lots of stress as scope constantly increases, the client often misses content deadlines, and is usually late paying as well).

What is the best way to handle this? Firstly I will tell them I am booked up for at least 6 weeks and so they can get the level of service they have become accustomed to I would like to pass the project on to x person etc etc. Does that sound reasonable? What would be an appropriate next step if they offer to move the deadline to allow me to complete it?

Thanks in advance for any advice :slight_smile:

2

Sounds very reasonable to me. And if they are prepared to wait for you to be ready, then well and good. If not, they have plenty of options.

3

That’s easy. Tell them you are busy with other work, like you mentioned. Then refer them to another vendor. Then raise your rate significantly.

4

What’s often the case is that it’s not that a business/person doesn’t want the project necessarily, it’s that it’s not worth it to them. If the client offered you 3x the money, would you be able to find time? (if not 3x, pick the amount)

Tell the client (or ones in the future) that you’re not accepting any more work, so he’ll be billed at ‘priority pricing’ (make up the phrase of your choice). If it’s worth it to him, you’ll have no reservations about making the time, and if it’s not worth it to him than so be it. Either way, it’s a win-win.

Not everything has a price, but most things do :slight_smile:

5

I have had to fire a few clients over the years for various reasons. In two cases I presented the client with a Termination Agreement. Neither was willing to sign it.

My standard contract allows for termination by either party.

One way of completing an undesirable project is to subcontract it out.