How To Politely Decline Client Projects
Projects that aren't a good fit, The Wrong Type of Clients, and my email template to politely say "No"
I’m so glad you’re here! - Thanks for sticking with me!
Getting approached by a new potential client who explains the reason they contact you is because they really like your work is a great feeling.
You get a feeling that knowing your skills and reputation has preceded you and the main reason this client is contacting you is because of the work you have previously produced.
This prospect is looking for a designer to bring their project to life, and they see you as a qualified professional who has the skills to carry it out.
At this stage it can go really smoothly from start to finish or it can go really bad, or you get the feeling it will if you spot the red flags.
Throughout the years of running a business, you will come across some nightmare clients who have been difficult to work with, or potential clients who are not a good fit for you as a designer or your business.
These types of clients can be:
The type of client that questions every little thing you do.
They can be very argumentative.
They’re really awkward to deal with, even when requesting the simplest of information.
Undermine the work you produce and pick faults.
Go back on the brief even when it’s been signed off, and don’t believe they have to pay more when going in a different direction to what was originally agreed upon.
Blame you for everything that’s going on even when it’s not related to the project.
Do not pay on-time or refuse to pay at all.
When a client is either a new client who you are working with for the first time or an existing client who you have previously worked with is too much of a hassle than the project is worth, then it’s time to end the project on your terms and move on.
Terminating a project mid-way through can be a very nerve racking thought for some designers.
You have to be firm and state the reasons for your decision to end the project at this stage, don’t ever be afraid of a client they don’t own you!
As long as you have good reasons and explain in a professional way, and it’s stated in your terms and conditions that you can refer the client back to then you are more than in your right to make that decision.
Turning Down a New Project
Let’s look at the scenario of a new prospective client who has contacted you regarding a project they would like to commission you to do.
Upon looking into the inquiry you feel it’s not a good fit for you as a designer or good for your business.
You may even feel like you’re turning your back on paid work, with the thought of will there be other projects for me if I do turn down this project that is not really something I want to do.
From a client’s point of view, they see it as they have chosen you as the ideal designer to undertake this project, so they are not anticipating a rejection from your end, and some potential clients even take it as a personal rejection.
If you approach it in a professional manner and remain polite and let them down gently you can remain dignified keeping your reputation intact.
Why Should I Reject a Client Project?
Just because a client has a project and they would like to commission you for it, does not mean that you will accept it.
There are many factors that come into play to the reason you may decide to turn it down in the end.
It may even be down to the client or their project not aligning with your validation methods.
(I wrote about my 6 P’s of validation in this article about whether Designers Choose Their Clients, Or Do Clients Choose The Designer?)
It could be down to the fact that:
You have worked with this particular client before and found the process of working with them difficult.
The project itself may not match your studio’s objectives or strengths.
The Clients Company does not align with your studio’s values.
Your schedule could simply be full and you can’t accept any new projects at this time.
It’s always more challenging when declining work from a client you already have a relationship with, because you don’t want to disappoint or offend them in any way.
As a business owner, you must remember that saying “No” to a project and turning down a client is a business decision. Do not allow yourself to be fearful of the thought of saying “No” or feel guilty towards the client. These must not be the reasons that influence your decision as you will regret it later down the line.
The Wrong Type of Clients Will Cost You Time and Money
A large majority of designers, especially the younger generation have this mind-set that they need to just deal with the wrong type of clients from time to time and it’s just part of running a design business.
After all our client commissions pay the bills, so it’s just one of those things right?
Wrong!
This is far from the truth, in fact bad clients are costing you more time and money in the long run.
For instance if you’re working with bad clients most of the time
They constantly pay late, interrupting your cash flow.
Haggle over project rates. Devaluing your skills and time.
Constantly request changes over the agreed revision rounds.
Frequently call or email you with questions.
All the above examples eat into your time, time you have allocated to other client projects, time you need to work on your own business, and sometimes overtime you should be spending away from work and with your friends and family.
Bad clients can hinder and damage your reputation making it extremely difficult for you to gain better clients and work on better projects.
It’s a simple scenario but it happens quite a lot, for instance a lot of bad clients will refuse to take on board your advice, then when they don’t get the results they were expecting they complain.
You did nothing wrong, you tried to be professional and advise but they were not interested, so you did what they asked.
Now this client is not happy and the first thing they do is spout off on social media and if they have a big enough audience they reach others in the industry who don’t know the full story reconsider working with you.
Bad clients cause additional stress on you and your team, and people with high stress levels engage less, are not as productive and feel under the weather more than people who are content.
By avoiding this cause of stress will increase morale and productivity and more importantly the happiness in the work you are doing. This all adds to more positivity about your business and its reputation.
Don’t let a bad client hurt you, your team, the work you produce, your business culture or your bottom line.
Identifying a Bad Client
I wrote a full in-depth article / newsletter about How to Spot Difficult Clients and Their Red Flags its defiantly worth the read.
There are many different types of bad clients who all have different types of personality traits and when you devote time into learning about them you can spot them a mile off.
You have more than likely delta with some of them at some point:
The Client Who needed It Yesterday
This client believes that discussing his idea with you will immediately transform into a finished project and time is not needed.
This client thinks they are the only ones who exist and you don’t have other clients or projects you are currently working on.
His project is so urgent, but when you are seeking approval or some form of communication from the client they are always unavailable or can’t deal with this at the moment as I’m extremely busy type of client it’s not something that is on their priority list but it is on yours.
You try to set clear and appropriate expectations but this type of client just doesn’t grasp it.
The Client Who Can’t Pay Just Yet
This client seems professional, but they are demanding, and request multiple revisions and require a lot of attention.
You work your arse off to complete the project and when it comes to paying the final invoice this client is having some issues and can’t pay just yet.
And that’s not the end of it, they will then argue about the price becoming so aggressive and hostile towards you that you end up lowering the final payment so you can move on to the next client.
The Client Who Blames You for Everything
This client really does like hearing their own voice, the client will speak over you, and thinks they are inferior to everybody else.
This type of client will blame everybody else when things go wrong it’s never their fault.
If this client comes to see you for a meeting everybody else in your team seems to be missing when this client is around they are loud and love making other people feel small,
The Client Who Does Not Know What They Want
This type of client is so undeceive and can’t decide which package to go with even after you have explained the benefits of each package several times to them.
They just can’t decide which services they need even though you have diagnosed and advised this client what they need.
This client can’t confirm or agree on anything, procrastinating to the point where project deadlines are missed and you forget that this client is a client of yours.
The Perfect Client with an Amazing Opportunity
This type of client seems perfect, they are the dream type of client to work with who has the most amazing opportunity for you…That never happens!
This type of client knows that this opportunity is something you will most defiantly want to obtain, so they play on this promise to get you to jump through hoops and complete whatever they say and bow to their promise of this amazing opportunity you are going to get.
Just when you think you have done all you can to please this type of client and move on to the big opportunity that awaits you…they disappear off the face of the earth.
Used and abused this client just played you like a fool and you fell for it!
The Client Who Always Wants to Change it
This type of client at first seems like a good client to work with, they engage in conversation and seem really interested and excited about the project.
They will them take your work and slice it up rearrange things, and twist it upside down and by the time this client has finished what you’re looking at bears no resemblance to what the original work looked like, they basically just screwed it up and took a big dump on it.
The issue is they have not listened to anything you have discussed and then defaced your work. You do your best to explain but the client wants what the client wants, and you did your best with this project and with this type of client.
This client then has the nerve to blame you when his expected results are not there, and then complain about you, and slander you on social media making others feel sorry for them and painting you as the bad guy.
Whatever type of client you may have had to deal with, the main thing is to spot the warning signs and the red flags that wave in front of you.
A Few Things to Watch Out For:
Clients who are unclear when it comes to payments
Clients who question your price
Clients with small budgets and big demands
Clients who ask for more work than agreed
Clients who ask for free work
Clients who don’t respect your time and expect you to be available 24/7
Clients with unrealistic project deadlines
Clients who seem unorganised
Clients who are hard to contact
Clients who are constantly emailing or phoning you for updates.
Clients who show disrespect towards you or your work.
Clients who act irrationally and unprofessionally.
Clients who think they can do a better job if they have the time and resources.
Clients who pay late try to haggle over rates or refuse to pay at all.
Turning Down Referred Client Projects
You may be wondering what if a good client of mine refers a client to me, but the project is not something I want to do, if I say “No” will this hurt my relationship with the client who referred them?
Just remember that if a client is a referral from another client you are by no means obligated to take on the project.
You should contact the client and politely thank them for contacting you and the opportunity to work with them but unfortunately you have to decline.
If you’re concerned about how your good client who referred them will feel you can forward the response you sent with a brief explanation to why you can’t take on the project and thank them for referring them to you.
This will make your good client feel important as you consider their feelings and appreciate their referral, it will also teach them how to find more suitable clients for you.
How to Politely Turn Down a Client
I use and recommend having a template email that you send out, something you can make minor adjustments to depending on the client that is quick and easy for you to send out to decline a project with minimal thinking and fuss.
If the request came through as an email and the majority of your communication with the potential client has been through this method then you’re fine to send an email back explaining why you can’t take on the project.
If you have met the client in person or had a conversation on the telephone then I would suggest the right thing to do is talk to them directly to explain your reasons why you can’t’ accept the project.
Give your potential client an answer as soon as possible, don’t beat around the bush just let them know as soon as you make the decision. Be quick and upfront and thank them for considering you will help retain good relationships.
Just be professional and clearly state your reasons, why you can’t take on their project, don’t go too much into detail trying to justify why as this could seem like an excuse making it look like you are not telling the truth.
You could also suggest an alternative designer who may be interested in taking on the work.
It’s always handy to have connections who you can refer to clients who may be a better fit for their project needs.
By doing this you’re ending off on a positive exchange with the client while still trying to help them.
Don’t worry about losing clients to another designer. I have done this in the past and the client has returned to me with other projects that were better suited for me.
Remember to remain professional if the project is not big enough for you or the budget is really low, keep your opinions to yourself and never insult the client.
You have remained professional by briefly explaining your reasons, offered an alternative designer and most of the time the client will be ok with this and thank you for your help.
Occasionally you get the odd person who takes offence at your rejection of their project and takes it more of a personal rejection of them, not the project.
Sometimes they spout off at you and may even go as far as taking it to social media, don’t worry you did your job as a professional and explained.
Don’t engage with them and retain your professionalism, people will be able to figure out what happened from context that you’re not in the wrong, just let them spout off and dig their hole.
Reassess How You Obtain New Leads
If you notice that you are frequently having to reject potential clients then it’s time to realise that you’re attracting the wrong type of clients.
Take a long hard look at your new business lead generation process you’re using.
This includes:
Copywriting on your website and project case studies
The overall presentation of your website
Your call to actions (CTA)
Social media marketing
The content you're putting out includes written articles and visual work your showing
The way initial communications are conducted
Brand tone of voice
Any other tactics you're using
Consistency is key!
By doing this you can figure out how you can better qualify client leads before they express interest in working with you, this way rejecting potential clients is a whole lot easier.
Have a Simple Email Template to Decline Projects Politely
I have found it’s always a good idea to have an email template handy that you can alter slightly to fit the project you’re declining.
By having one it lessens the thinking time before responding to a client. For instance I use something like this below.
Hello {name}
Thank you for contacting us about your project. We appreciate you considering to work with us, and your patience waiting while we reviewed the project proposal.
However, we’re unable to accept this project or proceed with new work inquiries at this time as our studio is fully booked.
Or unfortunately, this project isn’t a good fit for us but our colleague may be able to help
[Insert similar explanation, as the situation demands].
Our colleague {Name} over at {Company Name} deals with other businesses similar to yours, so he would be a good fit.
You can contact him at {www.company.com} – feel free to let him know that I referred you.
[If your rejection is simply a matter of ‘being fully booked right now’, then in this paragraph you could suggest a month they could return to ask about the project again if they would like to wait.}
I wish you the best of luck with your project. Thanks again for considering us.Kind
Regards,
{Your Details}
Declining client projects can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. By remaining professional and keeping it simple it helps avoid any misunderstandings and keeps the door open for future collaborations.
As I always say - “Stay curious & enthusiastic, and good things will happen!”
Thanks for reading. Please leave a like and show some love. 🖤
How do you turn down projects? Let me know in the comments I would love to hear from you.
Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss future Issues!
The Type Designer’s Luxury Font Library - Just $29!
Are you looking to give your font collection a boost? Well, look no further
A collated list of top-selling fonts to save you time and money so you can get back to the fun bits of designing. With a huge variety of weights, ligatures, and extra characters to play with, this stunning bundle has all you need.
Available for just $29 for a limited time only!