It’s the absolute worst part of agency life; it’s the he-who-must-not-be-named of the marketing profession.
Losing a client, however, is sometimes inevitable. With the right offboarding strategy, your hard work won’t go to waste. Ensure your former client can access and utilize foundational work and key campaign documents. Best-case scenario, your client contact can maintain the marketing program, and might eventually return to your agency when the time is right.
3. THAT SAID, IT’S A NECESSARY EVIL.
With the right offboarding strategy, your hard work won’t go to waste.
Ensure your former client can access and utilize foundational work and key
campaign documents. Best-case scenario, your client contact can maintain
the marketing program, and might eventually return to your agency when
the time is right.
5. 1. CLOSE THE LOOP ON SERVICES OWED AND RENDERED.
‣ Refer back to your contract. Does he or she pay for services in
advance of their delivery? Is there an early-cancellation condition?
‣ Settle up on what’s owed (to the agency or the client).
‣ Clearly communicate the status of remaining service.
-
6. 2. PROVIDE ACCESS TO KEY CAMPAIGN DOCUMENTS.
‣ Deliver a running list of all strategic documents delivered over the
course of the partnership.
‣ Also provide all portal logins (username / password) that the
agency utilized during the partnership—even if you didn’t set up the
accounts.
7. 3. OFFER A STATUS UPDATE ON ALL PROJECTS UNDERWAY.
‣ Flag any projects or campaigns currently in the works. If you
provide blogging services, draft a list of headlines that have been
approved with a status note (e.g. outlined, drafted, etc.).
‣ If there are other weekly or daily undertakings that could fall
through the cracks (like social media activity), offer suggested next
steps during the transition to maintain momentum.
‣ Make clients aware of any running paid campaigns.
-
8. 4. DRAFT A LIST OF ALL ACTIVE WORKFLOWS.
‣ Loop more than one contact in on published workflows in your
marketing automation system.
‣ To make the most of lead generation efforts, consider appointing
someone to check in on a weekly basis and follow up with new
contacts as needed.
‣ And, if the content is not evergreen, emphasis a campaign end
date to avoid stale (or outdated) email marketing.
-
9. 5. ASK FOR FEEDBACK.
‣ When delivering all of the above resources, request a quick
offboarding call to answer any final questions and discuss overall
sentiment toward your agency’s services
-
10. 6. ALWAYS SAY THANK YOU.
‣ Show appreciation,
‣ Connect on social channels to encourage an ongoing relationship
(if appropriate). After all, ultimate success is often tied to the
strength of our relationships.
-