A client comes back six months later and wants their files again

"Hello, do you still have the file for the wrap? I need to get it printed again."

First, this is good news. A returning client is the cheapest client you will ever have: nothing to convince, nothing to scope, and they are writing because the first time went well.

Second, it is about to cost you forty minutes, and they are the most avoidable forty minutes in this trade.

The cause is in the delivery, six months earlier

An expiring link makes the delivery an event rather than an address.

On the day it goes out the difference is nil: the client gets their files, all is well. Six months later the difference is total. Had there been an address, they would go to it. Because there was an event, there is nothing left to look at, so they write to you.

That is the subject of delivering files without WeTransfer, seen from the following six months.

The three things that go wrong, and the second is the worst

The file is not findable in fifteen minutes. It is on a drive, in an archive, in a folder called "client final v3 OK". You will find it, it will take twenty minutes, and that is not the real problem.

You are no longer sure which version went out. That is the real problem. There are three exports, they look alike, and only one was delivered. Sending the wrong one is far worse than taking a day to find the right one: the client sends it to print, and the logo is in the wrong place. It is the only mistake in this article that costs somebody money.

They ask for a file you never gave them. The source file, the working file, "the editable thing". That is not an archive question, it is a scope question, and it needs an answer decided in advance rather than improvised on a Tuesday.

Three things to decide once

None of them is hard. What costs is not having decided them before being asked.

1. How long you keep the deliverables. Pick a number and write it down: one year, three years, as long as the studio exists. The number matters less than the fact that there is one. A client told "I keep your files for a year" who writes after eighteen months is not disappointed; a client told nothing is disappointed after three.

2. What gets resent for free, and what is a piece of work. The line is sharp and fits in one sentence:

• Resending what was delivered: free, always. It is already theirs. You are not doing them a favour, you are handing back their own property. Charging for that damages a relationship over thirty pounds.
• Re-exporting in another format, resizing, adapting: that is work. Short work, but work, and it is billed as such.
• Handing over the source file: that is a decision, see below.

3. Where it lives. One address per job, permanent, that the client already has. It is the only one of the three that removes the email rather than answering it faster.

Source files, honestly

This is a genuine argument in these trades, and it does not have one right answer. It has two defensible ones and one that is not.

Sources included, stated up front and priced in. Increasingly the expected answer, especially on an identity or a website, and a comfortable position to hold: the client is not trapped, you are not their hostage either, and you are charging what it is worth.

Sources excluded, said clearly in the quote. The classic position, perfectly tenable, on one condition: that it is written before, not discovered after. A client who learns at the moment they need them that they will not get the sources feels trapped, even when they signed.

The position that does not hold is not having decided. Then the answer depends on the client, your mood and the moment, it ends up inconsistent from one client to the next, and that inconsistency gets noticed.

When they ask and you have not found it yet

Never say "I don't have anything any more", and do not say "I'll send it right over" before checking either.

I'll look through my archive and come back to you tomorrow.

Then actually look. A stated deadline you keep costs nothing; a promise of an immediate send followed by three days of silence replays exactly what clients dislike, and they will draw the most natural conclusion, which is that you lost their files.

What removes the message altogether

A delivery that is an address rather than a send.

And the gain is not having replied faster. The gain is not having been asked: the client goes and looks for themselves, finds exactly what was delivered, in the version that was delivered, without having to take your word for it or interrupt you.

With Kalepio the delivery lives on the job's page, and the client keeps the same link from the first brief to the end. Six months later that link is still the address of their job: they see what they answered, what was decided, and what was handed over. "Could you resend" becomes "it is still there", which is not the same conversation.

Frequently asked questions

How long should you keep a client's files?

The number matters less than having stated it. One year, three years, or as long as the studio exists: a client who was told and writes after the deadline is not disappointed, a client who was told nothing is disappointed after three months.

Should you charge for resending a file you already delivered?

No. That file is already theirs, you are handing back their property rather than doing them a favour, and charging for it damages a relationship over thirty pounds. Re-exporting in another format or resizing, on the other hand, is work and is billed.

Should you hand over source files to a client?

Both positions are defensible, as long as you decided before the quote. Sources included and priced in, or excluded and said clearly. What does not hold is not having decided, because the answer then becomes inconsistent from one client to the next.

What do you say when you are not sure you still have the file?

"I'll look through my archive and come back to you tomorrow", then actually look. A promise of an immediate send followed by three days of silence makes the client conclude you lost their files.

How do you stop clients asking for their files again?

By making the delivery an address rather than a send. An expiring link turns delivery into an event: six months later there is nothing left to look at, so the client writes.