Personal Farewell Letter to a Client

For whatever reason that you have to leave your current workplace, your farewell letter to your old clients should be friendly and professional.

It is also important (in terms of perception of your integrity) to not appear to be poaching clients, if you are going to remain in the same industry (but maybe they want to be poached! So make it easy for them!)

All you need to achieve with your letter (after a heads-up phone call) is to thank them for their support over the years, that you are leaving because [insert good reason here - e.g. 'family' always makes you look good], and contact details.  You are representing yourself as willing to continue to help them, which should be easy for you as you know their business, so to speak.

Do not include anything more than you would write as a goodbye letter to your own boss, and never, ever disparage the business you are leaving.

If you want to make a lasting impression and send along a gift such as a gourmet gift basket to an old client (because they want to be poached or because you have genuinely enjoyed the working partnership), then think about extending the same generosity to your old workplace.  It looks better :)

The good-bye letter should include:

• Why you are leaving (keep it positive and brief - clients are not interested in a drawn-out personal story)
• Leaving date
• Thanks for their custom
• Contact details

Browse some tricky work farewell questions from our visitors here.

Sample Personal Farewell Note to a Client

Dear [Valued Client],
As per our last conversation on [date], I will no longer be handling your account from [date], as I am leaving ABCompany for the new opportunity of [a company/ more family time while doing part-time work/ a related industry].

I wish to thank you for your support over the past X years. It was a wonderful challenge to be able to help you in your endeavours with [specifics], especially that time with [specifics].

I have enjoyed working at ABCompany on your project. I am now looking forward to the new challenges of [e.g. [new title]/ working as a consultant in [industry/company]].

If you have any questions, or wish to keep in touch, my contact details are [email/phone number].

I wish you all the best in your future.

Warmest regards,

[Name]

[Mobile number]

[LinkedIn address]

[PO Box or new company address]

How about a different tone?

What about something more impersonal, more formal;

or just making an announcement to more than one person;

or are you representing your company and terminating a client?  

Click for more example business farewell letters - no poaching intended at all - in fact, no further dealings desired at all!

Sample 2: Short farewell letter to a client

Dear [Awesome person],

I just wanted to let my favourite client know that I am leaving ABCompany, my last day being [date].

I want to thank you for your mentorship, advice and respect for our collaboration.  

I couldn't refuse an offer of [position] at [new company] so no doubt we will cross paths again in some capacity.

If you need any information on your project, or catch-up for coffee, call me anytime on [number].  [Colleague], who you know has been second lead on the project, will be taking over as lead, and as you know, your project is safe with her.

Please enjoy the muffins, and

best wishes for everything,

[Name]

[Mobile number]

[LinkedIn address]

[PO Box or new company address]

Sample 3: Shameless Poaching

Dear [$Valuable$ Client],
As per our last conversation on [date], [Colleague] will be taking over your account from [date].  Your dealings with [Company name] will not change and will continue as smoothly as before.  

I have decided to pursue new opportunities with my own business [Your Business Name] so that I can provide more detailed and customised [industry] services, such as [example, example, example].  I intend to have only a few clients so that I can focus on flexibly accommodating their changing needs in an ever-evolving world.  My strengths lie in how I enjoy being up-to-date with key industry trends, my passion for innovation, as well as the problem-solving involved in integrating these into existing businesses.

I wish to thank you for your support over the past X years. It was a wonderful challenge to be able to help you in your endeavours with [specifics].  Your company is impressive due to the focus on [state one of their company values here, and an example during a project of how they made this a priority].

Should you ever need someone knowledgable about your business to consult with you on any projects, please contact me.

If you have any questions about this change, or wish to keep in touch, my contact details are below.

I wish you and your company prosperity and good health.

Warmest regards,

[Name]

[Mobile number]

[LinkedIn address]

[PO Box or new company address]

Some advice on following up:

As you have written a farewell letter and the relationship has been a professional one, allow the other person to re-establish contact with you.  You may follow-up with a short update on your professional life, however if the ex-client doesn't initiate any contact then assume that they are too busy to prioritise you, or that your idea of the working relationship was not the same idea that the ex-client has - that is, the relationship is not as close as you thought it was.

More than likely though, the ex-client is too busy and probably at least has you in their mind for when a professional opportunity to work with you does come up.  

So in summary, as you have written a farewell letter, you can "update" yourself to them once but after that, do not continue the contact unless they initiate a new contact.  That way you are not acting overly familiar and inappropriate.  Using LinkedIn is a good way to keep yourself in any ex-clients minds, by posting opinions and ideas relevant to your field, without spamming anyone.

What will you say in your Out-Of-Office automatic email?

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