As I was messaging with a industry friend recently about a client coming back to them after going elsewhere and having their accounts significantly messed up. I thought it worth writing a quick post on leaving on good terms in PPC.
Before I get into that, I know there are situations where this simply won’t be possible. I get that and am not advocating that absolutely every situation must be left on good terms, that’s not realistic.
But, most times when a business relationship is ending, you really do have a choice about how you want to leave it. And my advice to you is to leave it in as good of a place as you can! Because clients do come back and they also may be in a position to recommend a PPC provider in a new position or to someone else. Why burn those bridges unnecessarily?
Clients leave for a whole lot of reasons, it generally costs you nothing to be gracious when they choose to stop working with you (assuming they have fully paid what you are owed and are abiding by contractual agreements). I am not saying you should do someone else’s job once you are let go, but you should make the transition as easy as possible away from you and to the new PPC manager. Sometimes that is another agency or consultant and sometimes it is for a newly formed in-house team. Either way, holding an account hostage or refusing to share data that was part of your work product is not a good look.
I have been working independently for 27 years now and I can tell you with certainty the following things:
- Clients do sometimes come back after leaving
- Decisions about letting you go can often have very little to do with you or your performance
- People leave their positions and go elsewhere too and if they like you they might just call you at their new job
- Losing clients is part of the workflow in PPC
The biggest lesson here is to try to not let a termination impact you disproportionately. And to behave professionally at all times. This industry is smaller than you think it is, so be mindful of your behavior, as people talk and you don’t want negative things shared about the way you handled a business relationship ending when it was in the realm of normal business relationship dynamics.