How to deal with difficult clients

“The customer is always right”

How many times have you been quoted that? Do you even know where it comes from? Well, have you ever watched Mr Selfridge with the amazing Jeremy Piven? If you’re into fashion, it’s quite interesting to see a dramatisation of how the Selfridges department stores got created. Well, Harry Gordon Selfridge is the one who came up with this phrase, so thank him every time someone says this to you. 

Every industry is different, but in ours, a typical difficult client will be one of the following:

-       Expects everything but doesn’t want to pay

-       Changes the brief all the time

-       Wants everything done yesterday

-       Doesn’t know what they want but doesn’t want anything we do

-       Assumes everything we do is easy and that they can do it themselves (and usually better!)

-       Expects you to be at their beck and call 24/7

I’m sure there are a ton of other annoying scenarios you’ve experienced, but these are the ones which spring to my mind right now.

So how on earth do you deal with this, especially when it happens all the time!!

It’s not easy, but here are my tips for handling difficult clients:

Stay calm

OK, so this first point is much easier said than done. When someone riles you up consistently, it’s definitely not easy to stay calm. It’s quite standard in human psychology that we mirror the emotional behaviour of others. Therefore, it makes it even more difficult to stay calm. But this means, if you’re calm, you can encourage others to be too. 

This is the first step to resolving conflict, and you can help get your point across a lot more clearly this way too. 

Put everything in writing

This may seem really pernickety, but it will save you a whole host of headaches later. First of all, you won’t have any of this “he said, she said” nonsense and you can clarify everything by referring to the written content. 

In general, if you have a contract detailing everything you’ve agreed on, and both parties sign it, you shouldn’t have too many logistical problems. However, things change when you jump on a call or have a face to face meeting, wires can get crossed. Make a habit of creating a follow-up email to your clients to summarise what was said in the meeting and confirm all points so there are no discrepancies. 

Listen

You’re probably thinking “How is listening to their moaning going to help?”. Well, if you listen to your clients (no matter how annoying they are!), you will pick up on exactly what the issue is. Acknowledge their feelings, but don’t necessarily agree with them. Perhaps there is a miscommunication problem and if you listen to them, you may be able to find a simple solution. Ask questions and clarify things. 

Offer a resolution

If you’re in the wrong, be the bigger person and admit your mistake. Your client will probably appreciate it and be able to move on. However, the client may not be so easy to deal with, which is where finding a solution may become difficult. 

Remember, in business, you can’t have such a short-term vision, so think about a long-term solution. Offer some revisions, do something extra for free, make the effort to travel and see them…. think what you would want someone to do in the same situation for you. 

Cut your losses

Sometimes it’s really not worth the effort – it’s better to cut your losses. Yes, it’s completely frustrating to go through all that stress and effort for absolutely nothing, or sometimes less than nothing! However, carrying on may only cause more headaches and sometimes you may not ever reach a solution!

It’s better to maintain your integrity and just part ways. Also, you probably have much better clients who would appreciate the extra attention you can now give them. 

It’s really difficult to do but cutting your losses and walking away is often the best solution in a conflict. Try it – you will appreciate the relief of the stress, at least!

Learn from your experience

It’s very easy to blame your clients and say they’re the difficult ones, but it’s not always them! Each time you have a conflict, try to do some self-reflection and see if you could have done anything better in the situation. 

The most important thing is that you learn from your mistakes. It’s never fun going through conflict, so you definitely want to try and avoid the stress that it brings!