D.I.V.O.R.C.E?

We have got to the end of our tether with a client of ours. The relationship is not significant financially at the moment, the work is tedious (as our staff keep reminding us) and they expect a lot for very little. We have a rolling contract with them, so should we just walk away?

This is similar territory to the question about taking on a tobacco account and having the agency split into two by the ethics of the situation. Both situations are undermining the spirit and energy of the agency.

Having been faced with similar clients before and knowing the downward spiral just continues, I would advise cutting your losses and getting out quick and focusing your energies on new, more productive clients. But that is easy for me to say without knowing whether in these times something for the agency is better than nothing and that also you are not contractually in risk.

Based on the assumption that you can get out of the relationship easily and are not gaining anything financially from having the account – which you sort of say in your question – I would make sure beforehand that you consult with the main client contact to see if there is anything that can be fixed. It also allows you to flag that there are problems and that from a business perspective, it is not sustainable. So what you are doing is preparing the client for a potential “it’s not working” conversation later on. Consequently, if you do have that conversation, it will not come out of the blue, it will not appear arrogant (as there is business sense behind it) and you may be able to leave the door open for projects which play to your skills and will work for you financially.