What to do When you Lose a Freelance Client (Besides Stressing)

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2023 got off to a less-than-ideal start for my freelance copywriting business.

Two of my anchor clients on a monthly retainer cancelled their contracts.

While unrelated to my work (one client was bringing the work in-house, the other needing to cut costs), it was sad to part ways with well-paying, easy-to-work-with clients after 2+ years ( not to mention the sting of losing a chunk of my freelance income).

2023 has been sloooow and many clients are cancelling freelance contracts. With a wobbling global economy, hiring freezes and tightening budgets, it looks like things are going to get worse before they get better.

So, if you’ve recently lost a freelance client and you’re thinking, ‘now what’? Here’s my advice on what to do when you lose a freelance client and how to bounce back.

What are the Main Reasons Freelancers Lose Clients?

Freelancing is known for its unpredictability. Clients come, and clients go. If you're dealing with freelance client loss, the truth is that it often has nothing to do with your work.

There are a number of completely unrelated business reasons why a client may terminate the use of your services, some of which include:

• Internal Reorganisation

On a couple of occasions, my freelance contact at a company has moved or the company has discontinued their role, resulting in my services no longer being needed.

• Budget Changes

Marketing is one of the first departments to be targeted when companies want to cut costs. If, like many freelancers, you’re offering services in the marketing sector, you might simply be the victim of companies tightening their belts.

• Contractor Changes

Subcontracting for creative agencies can bring you a lot of good work. But if an agency loses the client or a project comes to completion, the agency may no longer need your freelance services.

• They Don’t Have Enough Work

Some clients may cancel because they won’t have enough work to make the retainer worth it.

• You’re Being Replaced by AI

With the emergence of AI tools like Chat GPT, some clients are cancelling freelance contracts in favour of these tools because they’re cheaper than hiring a professional (whether or not they’re as effective is still to be seen).

How to Deal with Losing a Freelance Client - Immediate Action Steps

If a freelance client has told you your services are no longer needed, here’s what to do next:

1.Always Stay on Good Terms with the Freelance Client

While it can be disheartening, even hurtful when you’ve given a client your all, always, always, always (!) stay on good terms with the client. This is business, not personal, and there’s no need to burn any bridges.

When it comes to how to respond when you lose a freelance client, be gracious:

Thank them and their team, tell them how much you’ve enjoyed working together, express how you hope to have another chance to collaborate in the future and wish them well.

Many times, a client I’ve worked with needs my help again after a few months, or if my key contact moves to a different company, they want to work with me on new projects.

What to do when you lose a freelance client lesson 1: It pays to stay on good terms.

2. Ask for Feedback

It's good business to know why you lost a freelance client. And the only way to find out why a client is no longer doing business with you is to ask.

Getting open and honest feedback about your freelance services is critical to improving and doing all you can to limit the chances of losing clients in the future.

Some clients may not want to give you an answer (due to legal or other reasons). However, there may be clues of things happening behind, things like layoffs or new employees.

3. Take Care of the Practical Stuff

Wrap up unpaid invoices, complete the handover of logins, accounts and collateral. Make sure you’ve got all the samples you need to use in your portfolio.

It’s also a good idea at this stage to make sure you connect to the people you worked with on LinkedIn so you can stay loosely in touch.

4. Ask for a Testimonial

Testimonials are a powerful marketing and sales tool for your business. Nothing is more convincing than someone else recommending your services.

Now that your time working together is at an end, ask the client if you can have a testimonial to use in your portfolio. Customers who’ve enjoyed working with you should be happy to leave a positive review on your freelance website, LinkedIn or Google business page.

Read this for tips on how to get powerful testimonials from freelance clients (it includes a template on how to ask for one too).

5. Make a Case Study

Case studies are a great tool to give prospective clients the full picture of your work and show them what you’ve successfully completed in the past.

Showing a potential client that you’ve done good work for other clients proves that you’re legitimate and trustworthy.

Make a case study on your work for the client, show your thinking, approach and results. Giving evidence that you’re capable of doing the job and have a track record of success makes people more likely to hire you down the line.

In this article, you can find my tips on what makes a good freelance case study, as well as other tips to improve your freelance portfolio.

When you lose a freelance client, build a case study of the work you did and put it in your portfolio.

6. Put Your Time to Good Use

Like it or not, you now have extra time on your hands. Spend the time you would have dedicated to this client on finding new freelance work to fill that hole. Update your portfolio, work on your inbound and outbound marketing and keep pitching and building your network.

7. Go to Their Competition

One of the fastest ways to fill the gap when you lose a client is to replace them with a similar client - usually, that’s one of their competitors.

Think of it this way, if the ex-client needed a specific set of services, chances are high that the client competitor will need them too.

When you lose a client, you’re a free agent, and there’s nothing wrong with seeking work from similar companies in the same space or market.

One caveat: check if you have a “non-compete clause” in the contract with the ex-client. A non-compete agreement prevents you from working for a competitor for a determined period post-contract.

It would be unusual for this to be part of a freelancer contract, but be sure to check before you start courting the competition to avoid potential legal issues.

How to Bounce Back After Losing a Freelance Client

It’s easy to focus on the practical implications of losing a freelance client - the reduction of income and the insecurity.

However, it’s important to acknowledge the emotional impact of losing a freelance client, too.

It can be hard not to take it personally when a client ends a working relationship. There’s disappointment and maybe anger, particularly if you worked on significant projects or for a long time together. Losing a freelance client can also make you question your self-worth and skills.

In summary, all the feels.

So what can you do to care for yourself mentally when you lose a freelance client? What are the best ways of coping with losing a client as a freelancer?

• Feel your Feelings

Go through the motions. Take a day or two to sulk, grieve, panic, whatever. Freelancing is an emotional rollercoaster, more so than a regular job. It’s important to give yourself some time and space to acknowledge the disappointment.

If you’ve lost your first big client, the experience can really make you feel like crap, so be kind to yourself.

• Don’t Let it Knock Your Confidence as a Freelancer

“I’m terrible at my job”. “No one will ever hire me again”. “I got lucky and knew I would finally be exposed for the fraud I am”.

These are just some of the irrational - and over-dramatic- thoughts I've had after losing a client (usually caused by imposter syndrome: read the ultimate guide to freelancer imposter syndrome and how to deal with it here).

One of the best things you can do for yourself and your freelancing business is to develop a healthy attitude toward losing a client. This will help you build freelance career resilience.

It’s important to remember no client relationship will last your entire career. One of you will inevitably be the first to move on.

It happens to all of us - it’s just that most freelancers only talk about their successes and not their failures.

The best strategies for dealing with client loss as a freelancer include reminding yourself of a few facts:

• You got that contract and you’ll get more

• Take a look at your portfolio and remember the good work you’ve done

• Read client testimonials and the nice things they’ve said about your freelance services.
  

• Turn Client Loss into Opportunity

It’s fine to feel bad, but don’t let it immobilise you.

See this as an opportunity to learn and grow and to find new, more exciting projects and progress with your freelance career.

When one door closes, another opens. A month after losing those two retainers, I secured one that’s in an industry I'm trying to niche down into.

Remember that business is a lot of trial and error, and now you’re wiser. You can put that to good use by building a more profitable business that sees you working on projects you’re genuinely excited and passionate about.

• Perform a Post-Mortem

More often than not, losing a freelance client will have nothing to do with your work, as shown above.

However, you need to be open and honest with yourself about your performance. What can you learn from this experience? Do you see ways to improve? What worked well with the client, and where are the areas for improvement?

Performing a post-mortem enables you to closely examine the closed project or working partnership from start to finish, determining what went right and what can be improved.

Take the loss of a freelance client as an opportunity to cast a constructively critical eye on your business. Take any lessons you can and use them to do better.

• Admit if You Fucked Up

Wondering what to do when a client terminates a freelance contract and it’s your fault?

Take ownership.

Sometimes losing a client will be your fault. As a freelancer, you self-regulate your standards - did you meet all the deadlines? Did you communicate effectively? Was the work delivered to a high standard? Are there any skills you need to improve?

I am totally fine with admitting I have fucked up more than once.

One that comes to mind is a project for a global news company which hired me to create a series of branded content.

I was disorganised and messed up the deadline for one of the articles.

I’d got off a redeye flight to the US from Europe, was epically jetlagged and because of the time difference, I had to work into the early hours to meet the deadline.

I did finish the piece on time, but in my exhausted state, sent the email without attaching the article.

Then I swiftly put my phone on silent and collapsed into bed.

Hours later, I wake up to several missed calls, frantic texts and one epically angry email.

Because I'd not submitted the piece, they had to get one of their in-house journalists to write it so they wouldn’t miss the client’s deadline. I’d defaulted on the deadline, and they wouldn’t be paying me.

Waaaab.

I should have managed my time better, not agreed to a deadline when I had travel coming up, or just been transparent about the travel in the first place.

It happens, but definitely won’t happen ever again. Some lessons are learnt the hard way.

Just know you’re not alone when you fuck up.

How to Limit the Chances of Losing Freelance Clients

Prevention is better than a cure. So do all you can to keep clients engaged and on good terms.

Here are some basic freelance client retention tactics and client management tips for freelancers:

• Build Strong Relationships

Don’t underestimate the power of being nice to work with. At the core of any business relationship are people working with other people. Be reliable, do what you say you’ll do, get to know the people you work with and be honest and transparent.

Building solid relationships with your point of client contact can deliver benefits down the line. I’ve had my client contact leave but then rehire me at their new company or recommend me to other people. It pays to have people like you.

Here’s some tips on how to boost your likeability as a freelancer.

• Communicate

Regular and clear communication is critical to building a solid relationship with a client. Be responsive to their needs, and set expectations on communication channels, response times and availability.

Send updates after project benchmarks and schedule regular catch-up meetings so you’re not just a stranger on the other end of an email.

• Show Your Value

At every opportunity, showcase the value you bring to a client's business. A monthly report ourlining what you’ve delivered is a great way to do this.

When working with any social media or content marketing, I include the creation of a monthly report in the fee. This is vital to show the client we are making progress on their goals and clearly shows how I'm making a positive impact on their business, making it easy to see why they spend money on me month after month.

• Always be on the Lookout for New Clients.

One of the most important things I’ve learnt from running a freelance business is: Don’t just work in your business, work on it.

Keep your existing clients happy, but always be looking to expand your reach with people and businesses you want to work with.

That means doing things like marketing, cold outreach, and updating your portfolio regularly.

You can find more tips in this post: 8 Best Freelancing Tips For Beginners.

• Don't Put all your Eggs in one Basket

Avoid the single client trap, and make sure you’re not relying on one main freelance client for all your revenue. It’s advisable to have at least 3 regular freelance retainers and top up your income with projects.

If you lose one freelance client, at least you have the others to fall back on, and you’re completely destitute while you find a replacement.

If you want more tips on working with clients on a retainer basis, read this post: 5 Common Mistakes Freelancers Make With Retainer Contracts.

What to do if you Keep Losing Freelance Clients

If you can land clients but don’t seem to be able to keep them, this is a sign that something is not quite right on your end.

Look at what you’re offering - how often do you communicate with clients? How are you building rapport? What’s your process for iterations, revisions and the quality of work you deliver? How are you showing the client that you’re adding value?

Here are a few things to consider if you’re regularly losing freelance clients:

• Are They Going to Your Competitors?

Freelancers need to judge their services honestly against other professionals in their class. The best freelancers are the ones that are good at self-regulating their standards compared to their competition in line with their price.

If you're losing out to the competition, see what they do and mirror that.

• Examine your Rates

Are your prices reasonable considering the market rate and your experience? If you’re charging more than the industry standard, do you justify that with experience or something unique about your services?

It's OK to charge more than the average freelancer, but those rates have to be justifiable, and it’s even more essential to show your value when a client is paying you a premium.

• Take a Look at Your Positioning

Maybe you’re currently working with flighty companies and cheapo clients with low budgets. The result is you end up losing them because they don’t value your work.

If that’s the case, it might be time to rethink who you want to work with and how you position yourself.

• Has Your Work Improved?

Freelancers need to continually improve the service they offer to clients.

If you’re getting better at your craft, it’s normal to look back on work you have delivered to clients in the past and cringe a little bit.

Make sure you are constantly upskilling, keeping up with the latest technology - like AI tools - and keep working on your soft skills too.

How Freelancers Can Minimise the Impact of Losing a Client

Is it normal to lose freelance clients? Yes. Is it Ideal? No. So when the inevitable happens, here’s what you can do to minimise the impact:

• Make sure Contract Terms Have Runway

With freelance retainer clients, my contracts have a one month or quarterly termination notice period. Should a client wish to cancel, I have enough notice to find a new client to fill the hole.

Adding a bit of runway in your contacts ensures you won't be taken by surprise should a client wish to terminate.

• Have a Contingency Fund

I recommend freelancers have a contingency fund for when they lose a client or find themselves in a slow period. Your contingency fund can help you through the worst parts of a dry spell. Six months' runway is ideal.

• Diversify

Diversifying is a smart business strategy, no matter what market you’re in. Can you sell products as well as freelance services? Can you target different geographic locations, which can lessen the competition or give you better-paid opportunities (for example, the difference between US and UK freelance rates is insane)?

How to Quickly Get More Work When you Suddenly Lose a Freelance Client

If you suddenly lose a freelance client, one of the best things you can do to get work fast is through cold email outreach.

Cold-pitching clients and agencies is one of the most effective ways to land high-ticket clients and well-paying gigs. Ensure you’re emailing the right person, personalise your message and don’t be too salesy or pushy.

Building a stable freelance business after client loss isn’t always easy. For more tips, read this article on the best and worst ways to find freelance clients.

If you’re wondering what to do when you lose a freelance client, I hope you've found these tips for dealing with client loss helpful. Remember to stay on good terms, update your portfolio, critically assess your performance and the work, but don’t let disappointment or loss immobilise you. Dedicate your spare time to finding a new client and building a better, more resilient freelance business.

Over to you, what’s your experience with losing freelance clients?