Have an unhappy client? Here's a moment of clarity.

UNHAPPY. CLIENT.

Which of these two words do you want to change?

If you don't quickly change one, the client will make the choice and he/she will almost always change the second word.

I've heard it said you should pick one, but that's both untrue and short sighted. Even if you decide not to keep them as a client, which sometimes is the right choice for the company and the client, you should try hard to not let them go away unhappy. Unhappy ex-clients are not much better than unhappy clients. Some would argue they're worse. (I won't.)

Just because they are an unhappy client, doesn't mean they are unhappy with you or believe your company provides bad products or service. They might simply be a square peg in a round hole.

Try to keep them as clients, if it makes sense. If it doesn't make sense to keep them as clients, then still try to fix whatever it is that's making them unhappy.

This way, when they go away, they won't go away mad.

While you're trying to figure out how to make that happen, you can listen to this Blondie song from Parallel Lines.