Ep 95: How Responsible Are You for Your Clients' Results?
There is a question I've been asking clients a lot lately, especially when something in their business clearly isn't working:
"What are you going to do about it?"
It's come up when clients aren't converting. It's come up when existing clients aren't renewing. It's come up when the people inside an offer aren't getting the result they expected, and the service provider is frustrated because the client didn't implement, didn't follow through, or didn't do the thing they were supposed to do.
I understand why we go there. There are parts of a client's result that we cannot control.
But I think some service providers have gotten so cautious about promising results, guaranteeing outcomes, and dealing with scope creep that we've separated ourselves from the client's result almost entirely.
And I don't think we get to do that.
You sold them a result for a reason
If you're an expert providing a paid service, there should be a benefit to working with you. There should be an impact or result you're helping create.
I call this your number one result.
Then there are the smaller wins throughout the relationship, the checkpoints where your client can see that the work is doing what it is supposed to do.
If you've been selling the same or a similar service for a few years, though, there's another question worth asking: Is the service you're delivering today still set up to produce that result?
Because maybe you're going through the motions. Maybe clients aren't as happy as they used to be. Maybe they're getting weaker results, or they're reaching the end of the contract and deciding not to renew.
Those are signals worth looking at.
Does your scope actually support the result?
I've asked multiple clients some version of this question recently:
Are the things people are paying you for right now actually the things that need to be in the package to produce the result?
I can't answer that question for you. If you're the copywriter, designer, social media strategist, CFO, consultant, or other expert, that's your lane.
You should be able to look at the scope and tell me whether those deliverables, when done well and implemented, give your client the best chance of getting the result you're selling.
If the answer is yes, cool. Now we have somewhere else to look.
Is the work being implemented? Is it being implemented well enough or fast enough? Is the client doing their part? Are expectations clear? Do they even understand which pieces require their participation?
Those questions are very different from shrugging and saying, "Well, they didn't do the work."
Client accountability is part of the conversation
There are going to be clients who don't implement.
There are also going to be clients who aren't in the right place to work with you, and there are situations where ending the relationship makes sense. You cannot control another person 100 percent.
Still, I want you to look at what you can control.
If you know your client needs to do something alongside your work to get a stronger or faster result, have you told them?
Have you explained why it matters? Have you shown them what happens when clients follow through on that piece? Could you give them a specific tool, challenge, or focused period of time that makes the task easier to act on?
This does not automatically mean adding more deliverables or giving clients unpaid work outside the scope.
It means acting like the expert they hired.
If I hire someone who knows more than I do about a particular area of my business, I expect that person to tell me what works and what I need to be doing to give us the best chance of getting the result.
Your offer cannot stay frozen forever
Maybe the problem really is the container.
The pieces that worked two years ago might need to move around. You might need a different order, a different deliverable, a different expectation during onboarding, or a change to how you're communicating progress.
That doesn't automatically require rebuilding the whole business.
Some of the conversations I've had lately have led to pretty simple refinements behind the scenes. The hard part has been getting willing to make them.
I've heard, "That sounds like a lot of work."
I've heard, "I don't know if that's going to work."
Neither do I. I'm not a psychic.
You can test it, though.
We're never going to find one permanent answer that makes sure our services, marketing, positioning, and offers work exactly the same way forever. You change. Your clients change. Technology changes. The market changes.
Being in business requires you to respond when those changes affect your results.
Staying informed is part of your job
If you don't have time to understand what is working in your own industry, I think that's a problem.
If you know something inside your offer no longer works and you're continuing to charge people for it because changing it feels inconvenient, that's an even bigger problem.
Your expertise requires maintenance.
You have to know whether the strategy you're selling still makes sense. You have to notice when client results begin slipping, and you have to be willing to investigate why.
This becomes even harder when you're maxed out with client delivery.
You're working with three to five clients, your calendar is packed, and all of your energy goes toward getting the client work done. Marketing gets ignored until a contract ends, then suddenly you have room to market again. A new client signs, delivery takes over, and the cycle begins again.
I've seen that season plenty of times.
Getting out of it requires something to change, and the transition can get messy before the business feels simpler.
So, what are you going to do about it?
As we head into the last quarter of 2026, I want you to look at the parts of your service business you've been tolerating because changing them sounds exhausting.
Look at your client communication and results. Look at your offer, pricing, positioning, and the way clients move through the work with you.
Where have you already gathered enough evidence to know something needs attention?
You don't need a permanent answer. You need to decide what you're willing to test based on what you're seeing right now.
If clients aren't getting the result you sold them, figure out which part belongs to you. Then decide what you're going to do about it.
I'm digging further into this conversation in Episode 95 of Sell the Damn Service. Listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts.
Chapters
00:06 - What responsibility do we have for client results?
02:29 - What client frustration and lost renewals can tell you
04:47 - "What are you going to do about it?"
06:56 - What clients should expect when they hire an expert
09:18 - Does your service actually support the promised result?
11:44 - Client accountability and knowing when a client isn't a fit
13:31 - The resistance to trying something different
15:30 - Why there is no permanent business solution
17:06 - Your responsibility to evolve as a service provider
19:05 - Small refinements can change the outcome
20:22 - The self-reflection question to take into 2027
Ready to Restructure and Productize Your Service?
Inside Sold Out Services, I help service providers examine who each offer serves, what happens after someone buys, and where qualified clients are being left without a clear next step.
You do not need to create an entirely new business every time you reach capacity.
There may be more revenue, impact, and long-term client value hiding inside the client relationships you have already built.
If you’d like to see a library of all published episodes in a gallery with easy-to-find links to all listening platforms be sure to check out the Sell The Damn Service Episode Library.
