How to Deal With the End of a Business Relationship
Since the journalism industry changes about once a month, I consider myself an expert in business relationships, namely what to do if you lose your main career, side job, lucrative project, or even a relationship with the person who was your lifeline in a particular industry or company.
First, the bad news: it sucks. It’s one thing to piss people off the Internet and ruin a friendship or two. Another thing is to watch how the source of income disappears , especially if it made up a significant part of your ” real ” or ” funny ” money.
But a business relationship can go bad even if you don’t get fired, fired, or given up on what you do for the person or company. You may also run into cold shoulder – a special form of hell where you have to send 800 percent more annoying emails and follow-up actions to cut 20 percent of the work (or responses) you previously did. Ugh .
Fortunately, there are a few tricks you can try to get the most out of rejection in the business world.
Don’t let your relationship get to this level
The advice is obvious, so I will try not to stop there. Whether you’re working on a side project for someone else or you only have to worry about one major job, your top priority – besides getting the job done – is to maintain relationships with your professional colleagues. This is especially true for those who have power over you.
I know this is annoying. But I’m not talking about the “persuade them and show interest, even if you really don’t want to be friends” aspect of a business relationship. Your work, your efforts and your business relationship go hand in hand.
If you start to notice that something is wrong with your boss or primary gig contact, think about what you could have done to change that relationship. This (obviously) won’t always be your fault, but it is possible that you can take more liberties than before: checking less, being a little more confrontational, doing sloppy work, missing deadlines, etc.
This is especially true for those in the gig economy ; If the person you’re talking to no longer gives you that much work, they may be trying someone easier to deal with than you for some reason.
Again, sometimes a relationship can go bad through no fault of yours, but a little reflection never hurts. If you find a problem that could affect your core business relationship, fix it yourself … or start looking for a part-time job.
Ask for reviews from time to time
There is something I dislike more than having to reach out and ask someone for feedback; I don’t hate feedback, I just feel like this is something that a competent manager or colleague should regularly provide. This establishes the expectation that the feedback is for reward and improvement, not “fix” or punishment.
One of the best ways to find out if your professional relationship with someone has changed is to ask them. And to the question: “Can I get feedback?” the route is a great way to facilitate this conversation – much more than just saying, “So … do you hate me?”
Resist the urge to talk about the tool you use for your day to day tasks. Don’t do this in Slack, text messages, or email. Ask to speak on the phone, go to a video conference if you are remote, or, best of all, have a face-to-face meeting.
While I cannot advise you on what to say, since every situation is different, I usually recommend starting by reaffirming your commitment to whatever work you do, offering some ideas about why the relationship might be strained (and introducing those who are struggling.) position). in a clear but gentle tone), and be receptive to any feedback you receive. You may not be able to restore your relationship after one conversation, but at least the other person will know your intentions. And if they’re not complete assholes or have already written you off, they will probably want to fix the fence.
In the interim, I recommend doing everything in your power to behave as best you can – essentially superbehavior. Don’t kiss your colleague’s ass. Instead, let your newfound interest in your business relationship flow through your work.
Correct everything you do in extra time. Submit your work one day before the deadline. Manage until you can find the fine line between “pushing for updates” and “genuinely interested in keeping your primary contact informed about important information.” Showcase your interest, enthusiasm, and passion for your work.
When it all falls apart, turn around
If you have passed the point of no return, or you did everything right and are stuck in external factors that you cannot control, you may lose your gig or side project. For you, this means not only a loss of income, but also a kind of artificial gap between you and your main business contact. If this person is awesome, they probably hinted (or had frank conversations) about the possibility or likelihood of such an outcome.
First, don’t take it personally, even if your business contact was supervising and the direct cause of your missing concert. As tempting as it is to talk about how terrible they are (for them), keep your eyes on the prize: the sweet bag of money you get for your work.
When faced with the loss of a business relationship – and probably your income – a good method to try first is to exchange. Try to figure out what makes you persona non grata . If it’s not really you, but some change on the part of the company instead, you may be able to realign your arrangements to maintain some semblance of what you were doing.
For example, if you’re getting laid off due to a budget, consider lowering your rates or negotiating a new deal that at least allows you to make some money while you look for other opportunities. Nobody likes losing money, but it is much easier to lose 25 percent and have a long take off to find other ways to replenish it than to lose 100 percent out of the blue.
If you’re crafty, you’ve also (hopefully) noticed flaws in other work in your company; or, to give it a positive vibe, new opportunities that the company would like to hear about. Before being sent to the pasture, consider proposing a few of these ideas as a means to switch your presentation from one area of focus to another.
You may still have to go along with the job or money cuts, but I can’t count the number of times I have been able to “negotiate” a lost gig by having a thoughtful discussion with my main business contact and organizing a new job for the company based on this understanding. what they did, what they did n’t and what (more) I could do for them.
In other words, always have a trump card up your sleeve – and play it while you’re still in the line of sight of your business contact. A few months after you lose your job, you may be too out of sight, out of sight.
Go out with grace to secure future opportunities
Well, that’s all. Your job has dried up, you haven’t been able to save your new job, and you are about to say goodbye to the concert (and business contact) forever. First, no matter how it ends, do not crap on your (former) colleague – at least not publicly.
No matter how tempted you are to stir up a Twitter storm about how someone or somewhere has hurt you or mistreated you, or how angry you are about your favorite concert missing. Burning the bridge is only a temporary solution to your misfortune.
If your business contact was a sane, respectable person, and for some reason nothing worked out, never consider the relationship over. I’m not saying that you should invite a person to dinner (or a Destiny raid, or whatever) once a month and forever, but always stay in touch.
Even if you have little or no interaction, stay on the positive side of the spectrum. You never know when an opportunity will open up again in a company, and you may be the first to think of your former colleague if you left the previous gig on the happiest possible note.