The Client Asked to Cancel Right After the Kickoff Call. Here's How Good Agencies Handle It.

The email lands 48 hours after kickoff: "We've decided not to move forward." What you do in the next 72 hours determines whether this becomes a saved account, a referral-generating clean exit, or a reputation-costing mess. This playbook covers the five causes behind kickoff-stage cancellations (each with its telltale signature), the exact save-call script, why structural fixes beat discounts every time, how to exit so gracefully the client comes back — and the four prevention moves that keep the email from ever arriving.