Why Your Company Is Losing Clients and What to Do About It

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that you can't please all of your clients all of the time. Differences of opinion and changes in circumstances mean that even the most successful firms occasionally lose a contract or two.

But if your business is losing more clients than usual, or failing to win any new business, then perhaps it's time to make sure you're not making one of these four critical mistakes:

Mistake 1: Poor Communication

Your client has handed over a sizable chunk of money, and they haven't heard anything from the company in a few weeks. They ring up to get a progress report, and are patched through to a person they've never talked to before who can't seem to find them on the system. They leave a message for you to call them back and, after waiting three days with no updates, call up to cancel the contract and demand their money back.

What to do about it: Clear, concise communication should be the focus of your client relations. Clients are spending a lot of money with you and, as they don't understand your side of the business, they trust you to come up with something amazing within their budget. As part of tending that trust, you need to keep them in the loop.

Many companies have found it useful to have one person who acts as a point of contact for all clients – their job being to update the client on the progress of their project, find the answers to client questions, and chase up any info the team needs. Basically – they are the client dogsbody. But if you can't afford to hire new staff, then find a way to rework your processes to include adequate client contact and feedback.

Mistake 2: Your Team Sucks

Oooh, that's harsh. But that's exactly what the client is thinking when he attends a brainstorming meeting to find the team talking over each other, bickering, or refusing to contribute. If you've got a dud team, you need to do something about it. STAT. Mediocrity, negativity, and rehashed ideas won't do your company any favors.

What to do about it: The fact is, it might not be any one member of your team causing the problems. It may be that every person is perfectly competent on their own, but their environment or their group dynamic prevents them from working together like they should. Sit down with your team and figure out the issues, and find creative solutions for addressing them, such as teambuilding exercises, new processes to evenly distribute responsibilities, or a more relaxed work environment.

But if there is even one weak link in your creative team, they will bring down the rest of your staff. Mediocrity and negativity catch like the plague, and if you've got one of these on staff, you need to take steps to neutralize the problem.

Mistake 3. You're Not Innovative

The client has come to you looking for a creative solution to their problem. But the solution your team has come up with is pretty much the same thing the client has been doing for years. To say the client is underwhelmed is a bit of an understatement.

What to do about it: A lack of innovation often stems from a lack of autonomy. If your team members don't feel comfortable sharing creative solutions, then all the good ideas are going to be lost. How do you encourage innovation?

• Provide training and up-skilling opportunities.
• Creative alternative avenues for idea circulation, so that people who aren't comfortable expressing themselves in meetings have a way to communicate.
• Allow your team to road test new ideas on your own company first – so a new method or technology doesn't have a client on the other end worrying about the ROI.
• Make it OK to fail. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Mistake 4. You're Overworked

Entering a growth stage in your business is exciting, but it's all too easy to let the work run away with you. From the client's perspective, watching staff work constant overtime, forget important details because they're so stressed, and neglect basic client courtesies because they're in a hurry leaves a bad impression. If the client feels they're not being taken care of and their work is being rushed, they're going to take that work elsewhere.

What to do about it: There are three potential solutions to this issue. You may find employing all three in unison will bring out the desired result.

1. Hire new staff to deal with the overload. This could be permanent employees, temporary staff, or freelancers, depending on your company's needs.
2. Raise your rates. This will help you whittle down your client list, and will also help fund a growth stage in your business.
3. Start saying no. You are a business, not a charity. Sometimes taking on anyone and everyone isn't the best thing for your company. Start looking at your service offerings to see what you can drop. Who are your least profitable clients? Perhaps it's time you started refusing work that doesn't help you grow your company.

Has your company ever experienced a dramatic loss in clients? What did you do to turn things around?