First Failure - Founder Update #9

This week I had to let a client go for the first time...

Our engagement had started positively with them making the initial connection and sharing a list of their goals.

But after a while communication dropped - but not entirely. Rarely there would be a message on seemingly random topics, not following the coaching process or continuing from the last email / reply.

For a few weeks I'd tried to encourage them to take some basic first steps and explained how the service worked, but it never seemed to register.

After a while, I asked whether they could at least commit to the minimum communication needed in the coaching (eg a few minutes a day or two to email), but didn't get a response or change in the communication.  

So a few days back I sent them a message that their coaching was paused, and if they wanted to continue in the future with the required commitment to the program, I'd be happy to resume.  

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about it...

On one hand, I tried many times to get them to engage, help them get started, and they kept failing to reply or follow on. So it seemed like it wasn't going anywhere, and better to cut losses on both sides and move on.

But on the other hand, it feels like I may have given up too early on a client (regardless they are a non-paying beta customer), and that maybe I could have kept on trying and somehow it made a difference later on...

It's a good thing to consider because it's likely something I'll encounter after launching.

In these sort of cases, should I keep a paid client subscription active in the case the coaching isn't actually moving forward, and keep repeating my attempts to get it started ? Or just proactively suspend the subscription, even though it might break through later on for them.

Something to decide at launch 🤔

Til next
Simon