Most strained client relationships do not announce themselves clearly. They show up as a collection of small, easy to rationalise signs, each of which is easy to explain away individually and much harder to ignore once several of them show up together.
- 1. Invoices are consistently paid late, well past the point that looks like a genuine oversight.
- 2. The client has started routing routine questions through a different, more junior contact at the firm.
- 3. Requests for information take noticeably longer to get a response than they used to.
- 4. The client mentions, more than once, comparing fees to what "other firms charge".
- 5. Scope has quietly expanded well beyond the original engagement letter, with no conversation about it.
- 6. Meetings get rescheduled or shortened more often than they used to, without explanation.
- 7. The relationship feels, on reflection, like it is being maintained out of habit rather than genuine value on either side.
Closing
None of these signs alone means a relationship is beyond repair. Together, they are usually a signal that an honest conversation, about fee, scope, or simply whether the relationship still fits both sides, is overdue and will only get harder to have the longer it is put off.
