Even the most experienced agency professionals have made the mistake of being too enamored with the thought of new business to consider their capacity to deliver. And now, you’re staring at a mountain of work with no way to provide the quality work promised. How can you push back without angering the client or worse yet lose their business altogether?
Say “No” to Anything New
If you’re already overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work already promised, don’t fear saying “no” to any new jobs. As potential projects roll in, evaluate each one to determine whether or not the added stress is worth the benefit of taking on a new client.
Obviously, there are exceptions to this: You might want to keep one of your larger clients happy, or you might have a new client who could prove lucrative in the future and turning them down will be costly to your agency's future.
Warn Your Clients
Everyone appreciates transparency, so if you’re a little overbooked at the moment and a client brings a new project, explain the situation.
This will probably garner one of two responses: The client will be obliging and a little more flexible with their deadlines or they may continue push back.
Prioritize
After receiving responses from all your agency’s clients, prioritize work based on both willingness to work with your schedule and how valuable the client is to your agency’s health. Top priority goes to large clients with strict deadlines, while lesser priority is designated to smaller clients with flexible delivery dates.
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