Termination of Services | Tue Oct 5, 2021
My Web Design services company is Say More Multimedia Marketing LLC or SM3 for short. Visit saymoremultimedia.com
I met with my therapist and asked, in so many words, what I’m doing wrong with clients who seem to not take my business and policies seriously. Wow, I should’ve broken up that sentence.
My therapist, who also went to Business School, encouraged to politely end a client’s project and suggest that client find someone else to complete their website. She introduced me to a thing called a Termination of Services. In short, I write a letter (email) explaining why I’m ceasing work on the project with all the relevant details. Also, I shared with my therapist another client who has delayed their project because they won’t respond to emails.
A little background
Here’s little bit of background on this particular client. Like all my client projects, I create a milestone timeline, spell-out the dates on the contract, and complete the project inside the time I’ve given. Boom.
What went wrong with one client is that I scheduled a meeting, and the client no-showed. According to my terms, I should’ve charged $25 for the hour meeting missed, but I didn’t. I rescheduled the meeting, and damned if the client didn’t no show again! Un-f******-believable, right?
As a result, my timeline for the project was blown because I needed information that was in my client’s brain to finish and launch the project. Ultimately, I started school full time at NSS, and the client’s project, now overdue, got filed under get around to it status — what I call space available. That’s a term used in the Air Force for catching flights air craft that have seats unfilled.
Decision to Terminate Services
As I was explaining the circumstances to my therapist, she made solid points like the project going over schedule isn’t my fault, I have to follow through with my policies, and that holding onto the project is causing my extra stress. All really good points.
For whatever reason, it hadn’t crossed my mind to end the project without finishing it. I’ve felt some level of obligation. I’ve been nice about it. Yesterday when the client texted and asked if I had a projected completed time, I said that I didn’t and that “ I am working on it when I have extra time.” It’s a completely accurate statement, and I only point that out to give context to how much I still feel obliged to do the work.
I think I’ll explain in the termination of services that I will continue the client’s project once she pays for both the no show appointments. Also, I’ll be clear that I’ll be available to restart work on the project after I graduate NSS in February 2022. That way, I’m letting my client know that I’m not abandoning her and the project, and it’s understood that I’m not signing back on for free.
