Lost a $1000 a month client over the stupidest thing

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MeatPocket

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Thought I would share my experience.

Here is the quick version since I am tired.

Me > my client (agency) > my clients client (another agency) > client of my clients client (who is getting seo work done)

hahah are you following still?

I did my due dilligence by making sure my client and my clients client were eye to eye with what to expect from us. We were supplying a full all inclusive monthly seo campaign.

unfortunately my clients client did not do a good job by relaying information between their client and me (who is doing the seo work).

anyway. For all new websites we start slow. We do Press releases, rss feed submissions etc. etc. Well we did a press release with generic info about their website with info that is listed in their website. There was no lying or false info listed. Well the end user was furious that we launched a PR without their "consent" and approval.

So now the end user wants weekly meetings on the phone and then weekly email updates. And their client told my client that they want me included in all these meetings. I told them no way jose!. Unless you want to pay extra I am not interested in doing that. So my client told his client we were not interested in doing that. His client was furious with ME for not apologizing about this whole ordeal and does not want to do business with someone who does not want to be a team player.

so today I lost a $1000 client. Good thing most of my clients pay a lot more than that per month. It sucks but it doesnt hurt too bad.
 
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But $1000 a month lost has got to hurt!

Is it really to late?

Can't you offer a humble apology directly. Tell them you genuinely misuderstood what they wanted and say stuff got a bit mistranslated along the chain?

Isn't it worth $1000 a month?
 
To be fair, the end client has a point and is not being unreasonable wanting weekly updates.

I'd also suggest that you did not lose the client - rather, you had a choice to make and could have kept the client if you had agreed to the weekly conference call.

Personally I would have chosen the meetings and kept the $1000 per month revenue. My thought process would have been to gain back the trust of the end client and at some point, hopefully, there would be no more need for the meetings.

The other benefit of the meetings is that you have direct contact with the end client, which may lead to direct business in the future.

Another aspect of this situation is the company in the 'middle-man' position. Although they played a big part in creating the problem (their lack of communication), they are in a position where they will want to save face with the end client. I have been in those situations many times and if I help them save face by taking some / all of the blame, that invariably leads to a strengthening of our business relationship.

I always take a long term view.

In my experience I have found that problems are not what make or break a business relationship. It is how problems are resolved that matters.
 
nicknax said:
But $1000 a month lost has got to hurt!

Is it really to late?

Can't you offer a humble apology directly. Tell them you genuinely misuderstood what they wanted and say stuff got a bit mistranslated along the chain?

Isn't it worth $1000 a month?
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Well I guess he is pretty busy with his business, and he'll earn more in that much time he'll spend in the meeting. It's gotta hurt a bit, no one hates money. :p Tell your clients to tell their clients that if they want you to be involved in any of their meetings/other time consuming stuff, they have to pay extra money for it. :)
 
exactly Jazzc

There are two middle men between the seo agent and end user. Neither one of the middle men wanted to do any "project management" Which is what middle men do since they are outsourcing the actual work.

Considering I am an entrepreneur and not only involved with seo there was no way I could justify agreeing to their demands without extra pay. They basically wanted me to do their job. Even with extra money involved I probably would have said no. I would actually lose money by spending my time with that nonsense.

I guess a lot of you feel $1000 is a lot and that you (I) should do whatever I can to keep this client happy. Well thats not always the case. There are so many more factors that come into play when making decisions like that.
 
Yes you are correct. The end client SHOULD get those weekly updates since that are probably paying $2000-$5000 a month (thats my guess) but you see the end client is NOT my customer and I am not the one who should be doing those meetings. The end clients agency should be handling those meetings.

If I would have spent time doing that weekly I would take a loss. My time is actually worth a lot. SEO is not my only gig.


Trepanated said:
To be fair, the end client has a point and is not being unreasonable wanting weekly updates.

I'd also suggest that you did not lose the client - rather, you had a choice to make and could have kept the client if you had agreed to the weekly conference call.

Personally I would have chosen the meetings and kept the $1000 per month revenue. My thought process would have been to gain back the trust of the end client and at some point, hopefully, there would be no more need for the meetings.

The other benefit of the meetings is that you have direct contact with the end client, which may lead to direct business in the future.

Another aspect of this situation is the company in the 'middle-man' position. Although they played a big part in creating the problem (their lack of communication), they are in a position where they will want to save face with the end client. I have been in those situations many times and if I help them save face by taking some / all of the blame, that invariably leads to a strengthening of our business relationship.

I always take a long term view.

In my experience I have found that problems are not what make or break a business relationship. It is how problems are resolved that matters.
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So my client just contacted me and is up to his elbows with ridiculous demands from his clients client. Glad I am out of that mess.
 
Also keep in mind a lot of reasons we are in this business is to get out of all the corporate America bulls crap. We do this because we are not team players and don't want to be. For the most part Internet marketing is an individual sport and the more you like working alone - or running your own team the more successful you are.

At my day job we have meetings to prepare for meetings. It's all CYA crap. I would have told you to shoot me a review copy next time and kept things moving. It would have been a 2 minute conversation. Chances are you meet with them and now you are answering a whole bunch of questions that you wouldn't have to answer before. They are weighing in now on stuff you don't need their opinion on and even worse they probably don't even understand. This is why business is so inefficient.

Good for you!
-Capp
 
Thank you.

And to all those who might not be making a lot of money. Don't be blinded by the money. Sometimes its not worth chasing.
 
The OP's post is the reason why I am one big stress ball. Well that, and the fact that my children drive me crazy. I have to do everything myself because many who claim to be experts in a field screw things up. OP, I would pitch a fit if you did a press release like that for me. Your client was nice to keep you on after that. I would have slapped you before I fired you. Not a literal slap, but you would have gotten an earful. You don't take generic info from a website and turn it into a press release. Do you know anything at all about marketing and press releases? If not, I suggest that you take some classes.
 
Unfortunately you are wrong. As I stated in the OP, I let my client know and supplied proper expectations. They also relayed those expectations to their client. The breakdown is when my clients client didnt properly give those same expectations. The end client was probably paying $5000-$10000. Its not my fault the person reselling something that is being resold to them didnt pass that along to their client.

Here is an example.

If I am a printing company and you are a broker/reseller. You have to at least give the same expectations if not less expectations than what you get from me.

If my TOS is that turnaround times are just estimates than you cant "guarantee" the turnaround times to your clients.

That would be the best analogy I can think of.

redrubies, I deal with very large firms and clients. I've been an entrepreneur for many years. So once you get to my level you wont be so stressed because you will have a lot more knowledge on how business really works.

Once you can afford an office I suggest you get one. Then your kids wont stress you out from working at home all the time.
 
MeatPocket said:
redrubies, I deal with very large firms and clients. I've been an entrepreneur for many years. So once you get to my level you wont be so stressed because you will have a lot more knowledge on how business really works.

Once you can afford an office I suggest you get one. Then your kids wont stress you out from working at home all the time.
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I have had my own business since 1987, and have had a house and raised kids as a single mother on my income from my business. I have been a guest speaker at women's forums and have helped many women start their own business. I don't need an office. A studio is sufficient. I deal with jewelry. My kids are grown. They still drive me crazy. I stand by what I said. You don't make a press release from generic info that you pick up off a website, and if you did that for me, I'd fire your behind in a minute. The only reason that I joined bhw was to get ideas on how to rank for the most difficult keywords in my niche, such as the word "jewelry." Then I got attached to this site and stuck around because I like the people here. I don't need marketing help.
 
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MeatPocket said:
Thank you.

And to all those who might not be making a lot of money. Don't be blinded by the money. Sometimes its not worth chasing.
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Thank you for this. A lot of members here are still on that $10 dollar a day grind, and would probably bend over backwards for a client paying a fourth of that. I figure the time is better spent on finding a higher paying client.
 
Working my way down the thread, I was thinking that you were one of the people we need more of on this forum; someone with experience and a good work ethic.

Until this:

MeatPocket said:
redrubies, I deal with very large firms and clients. I've been an entrepreneur for many years. So once you get to my level you wont be so stressed because you will have a lot more knowledge on how business really works.
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You crossed the line.

You don't know RedRubies at all so don't start trying to undermine her.
 
I really don't know what the fuck is wrong with your client, weekly reporting and weekly meeting is his fking jobs.

Oh well, some people enjoy leeching, especially their suppliers since they are so easy to bully.
 
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