We all have to change plans sometimes. There are always going to be unpredictable things that pop up or the unexpected challenges that arise and force us to cancel or back out of plans or an agreement. Remembering this can help us to be understanding when a customer or client has to cancel or back out, but I also think we need to try to keep thing professional and keep the cancellations and changed plans to a minimum.
If you have a customer or client who is ALWAYS cancelling or changing plans with you, this should be a big red flag. Many years ago, in one of my first jobs, I worked for the catalog department of a national department store. We had one customer whom everyone knew by name—she would call in or come in and place a big order, pick up her merchandise and then return every last item within a week or two. It cost the company thousands of dollars in terms of shipping, staff time and lost value on the items she ordered. We tried to talk to her, restrict her shopping and even attempted to ban her from the store and she managed to determinedly continue her practices. Obviously, she had problems and we discovered that we were not the only store she did this with. She was known all over town for her “returning.” From a personal perspective, I felt for her; from a business perspective, her constant mind changing, returns and backing out cost a great deal of money.
You might want to create policies to dissuade customers and clients from cancelling or backing out on a whim. A penalty charge, a last refund date, or other details put down in writing can help you to let customers and clients know that cancellations are a problem. Of course there are going to be legitimate cancellations and you can take those on a case-by-case basis, but having a policy in place can help to guide you in how to respond.