How to Overcome One Of The Most Common Challenges in Business

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As business owners, you have probably dealt with your share of difficult clients.? These experiences are not unusual but how each professional responds to them certainly is.

Some can let the bad experiences bring them down and create negative energy, while others can find ways to see the lesson that further improves and inspires them.

So, what are some of the ways to rise above these situations and better equip yourself?

1) Set the Expectations

Setting appropriate expectations and boundaries (especially at the onset) help protect you and your business from situations in which clients might be tempted to take advantage of you.

If you’ve run a business long enough, you know exactly where these opportunities lie.

We’ve heard some clients tell us how they are not paid on time or don’t receive all of the payment.

Some financial, legal and divorce professionals have told us how they don’t receive documentation on time and that ultimately stalls or delays the length of engagement.

These are experiences that can leave you feeling resentful and lead to a deteriorating client relationship. In order to avoid this, always be clear about your expectations.

Having a contract or letter of engagement can certainly help mitigate this. However, it’s really best to reiterate and remind them (both verbally and written format) so that they are receiving this communication in multiple places (and multiple times!).

Another good way to do this is to send a short recap email at the end of each week so that you are all on the same page about any expectations that you might have.

Clients lead busy lives so it’s important to send reminders about any outstanding important information? – so a weekly email recap is a great way to capture this and it keeps EVERYONE accountable.

2) Only Bring On Clients Who Are A Right Fit

It can be costly and SO time-consuming when we take on the wrong clients.

Let’s face it, while it’s important to grow your business, it’s equally important to not fill your practice with clients who can be difficult to deal with.

In any prospect meeting, I’m always looking for clues that will tell me whether this client would be a good fit.

And,? I’m always grateful when prospects are forthright in our conversations because it informs me and my team about who we want to work with and exactly who we know would prevent us from delivering the best results.

While we have taken on some of the wrong clients, we have gained so much clarity about who we best serve and who we won’t work with.

Know your client avatar and make sure you have it written down so you can refine it as you go along.? Share it with your team so that you are all on the same page.

Capture as much info as you can about your client avatar.? It will save you so much valuable time by onboarding the most ideal clients into your practice.

Some important considerations are:

• Based on your interactions,? does it appear like the prospect is coachable?
• Are they serious about solving their problem?
• What insight can you gather about them and their situation based on the questions asked?
• Can you help them solve their challenge?
• Trust your intuition!

3) Growing From Mistakes

We all make mistakes in our business but feeling embarrassed or ashamed isn’t the answer to moving forward.

There are valuable lessons in everything we do as entrepreneurs.? As long as we can own the mistake, make whatever changes are necessary and do things differently next time – we will be so much further ahead!

And please remember that the biggest mistakes always provide the BEST lessons!

“Wisdom comes from making mistakes, having the courage to face them, and make adjustments moving forward based upon the knowledge acquired through those experiences.”

― Ken Poirot

Treating setbacks as temporary—and even an essential part of the process—will help you shake it off and get back out there doing what you do best, which is serving your clients and making an impact in the world!?

Over the years as an entrepreneur, I have learned so many important lessons.??

The one that resonates most with me is to always understand the challenge, learn from it and then RELEASE it.? I give myself 24 hours to stew over it and then I move forward.? Carrying negative energy around is too high of a price to pay!

I'd love to hear from you. What are some of your biggest lessons learned in business?