Breaking up is hard to do, but there comes a point in some relationships when what you’re putting in and what you’re getting out just doesn’t add up. This is true for all types of relationships in life, including client-agency relationships.

You need a healthy client roster to retain your staff and keep the lights on, but it’s not uncommon for a marketing agency to have a client that costs more money, time, and sanity than it’s worth.

So, when should a marketing agency let a client go?

The Client Isn’t Profitable

Problem clients cost your agency more money than they are paying you. You need to analyze your time-tracking tool (or get one if you don’t have one) to see if you’re spending more time on a client each month than you’re billing them.

Spending too much time across all clients? You’ve got an issue with how you manage your team’s time.

Spending too much time on one client? You’ve got a decision to make. Is responding to their constant demands too costly?

Now, before you go all Donald Trump on the client with a curt “you’re fired,” figure out what’s accounting for the unprofitability. Which side is responsible for the loss, the client or the agency?

If it’s the client, it’s time to have a conversation about having them pay for more hours. If there is no solution that works for both parties, then it’s time to part ways. If the loss is due to shortcomings on the agency side, then you need to take a deeper dive into the issue and figure out if and how it can be rectified.

How to avoid this in the future:

Make sure you properly scoping the services you’ll be supplying and don’t underprice the agreement just to win an account, unless it’s a calculated decision or a loss-leader project. Ensure you define the process if the client is demanding more work than the contract accounts for so you have a solid foundation to leave the arrangement if you need to.

The Client Doesn’t Recognize Success

Clients always demand higher performance from their agency, but some clients have unreasonably high expectations or outright change the definition of success in the middle of a campaign.

A client that is constantly redefining expectations can wreck the morale of the agency’s employees. Your marketing team will quickly learn that their efforts aren’t making the client happy, no matter effective they are.

Just as before, the first step to addressing the problem is deciding whether you or the client is to blame. On the agency side, make sure your team is agreeing on goals with the client before any work starts — then make sure you have the analytics to back up your success. If you have well-defined goals and the client is still demanding more than is reasonable, it’s time to have a frank discussion with them.

How to avoid this problem in the future

Make sure that you are setting realistic client goals and you are reporting marketing progress that highlights the value your agency provides in a way the client will easily understand.

One More Thing: Three Strikes and You’re Out.

If a client that demeans your staff or is unprofessional in any way, they should be warned. If the behavior doesn’t improve, deal with them the same way you would a misbehaving kid: with a “three strikes and you’re out” policy. Document the abuses and then dump them from your client roll.

Exiting Gracefully

After weighing your options and carefully assessing the pros and cons of either maintaining or terminating the client relationship in question, you’ve decided to part ways. That same careful attention that went into making the decision now needs to be direct towards an exit strategy and making sure you end the relationship amicably.

Step 1: Cross your T’s and Dot your I’s.

Read carefully through your contract or agreement for terms of separation. There’s likely a stipulation that requires advanced notice in writing. And if there’s not, guess what? Still do it! Just as an employee would give an employer notice before leaving a job, that same courtesy should be extended to an agency leaving a client.

Next, check the contract to make sure you’ve fulfilled any outstanding obligations. Hopefully you’ve done everything you need to do, but if you haven’t then you should make a plan to wrap them up or hand them off.

Step 2: Time to let the client down softly.

If possible, have this conversation in person, or at least on the phone. Don’t email it, and please, for the sake of humanity, don’t text it. Explain your reasons to the client and give them a chance to respond. Make it clear that you’re a business, so each client relationship has to be profitable.

Step 3: Transition out by setting the client up for success.

Offer to come up with a list of other agencies that may be a good fit for the client and provide them with a few key details of what another partner should be able to do for the client. If you think it’s worth it, or if you are just really nice, you can offer a couple of hours of consulting time to help prepare their internal team to take over the responsibilities for which your agency is responsible.

Has your marketing agency ever made the choice to fire a client? What was the deciding factor? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below.