I NEVER ever fight a client who’s looking to exit a retainer deal. It’s all wasted energy and pointless anyway – why try to hug someone in a death rattle when they’ve already made it clear they want to sever ties?
Nothing poisons an agency and the dynamics of its team than being forced to work “a few more weeks” with a client who has made it amply clear they don’t want to work with you any longer.
It’s far better to focus that energy on landing another, better fit client.
We land clients BECAUSE of the flexibility and fairness of our contracts – “you’re not locked in with us, ever”.
I suspect that one of the reasons that we retain our clients so long is because they know that no one and nothing is trying to bind them to us, other than the strength of our relationships with them, and the quality of our work.
And honestly, those are far stronger binds than some clause in some contract which you’ll find impossible to enforce anyway.
