Some times a business relation comes to an end, not because parties has fallen out , but because circumstances has had an impact in such a way it is no longer of interest for one or both to carry on.

Of course both parties has maybe done what they can to maintain there business relationship but once there are no reasons to carry on , it has to end one way or the other.

Thera are many reasons for this situation to why it happens, it can be due to new regulations, laws, competition, resursers, price, you name it it can ave an impact, but in most cases its due to external factors that neither part can rule over.

Way back I was told a story about an consultant that more or less said yeas to any price, what he did was that if he got an client that paid better he would cancel the first agreement and take the consequences.

It might not be the best way to treat a client, but when I asked him why he did as he did, he explained to me that his clients in most cases said “take it or leave it” indirectly, so he decided to to treat Theas clients accordingly.

I asked him why he didn’t  take it up with the client from the beginning, he replied that it was much easier to remedy the next time the client asked him to come to them.

Did they come back at all, I asked Yes in some cases, the ones who didn’t come back where the ones he didn’t care to do business with anyway.

The ones that did come back he actually found a better relationship with than before, and the reason was that he was respected by the clients in a better way.

In a way I find this story interesting in many ways, especially out of the perspective to stick to your principles when a client focus on price and not content.

So te next time some one ask you to do something, ask yourself ” under what circumstances would I be prepared to say yes tot that”?

It gives you an other perspective to your client and it helps you structure expectations regardless if you get gain a client or not.

Christopher
Bell Blomquist Consulting
Managing Director