You spent long nights over the past months crafting your proposal and you finally landed the contract –congrats! But now what should have been a night filled with champagne and potato fritters is ruined by constant phone calls and a rapidly growing list of deliverables. Did you even receive your down payment yet? Below 6 things you should know about dealing with difficult clients your teachers never taught you.
The customer is always right. There are two rules when it comes to business. 1) the customer is always right. 2) If the customer is wrong, refer back to rule #1
No is the new Yes. Every time you say ‘no’ to a difficult client they hear yes. And, the more you say no the more you are giving them ideas for what to ask for. So (no need to be a push over) start being creative with your vocabulary. i.e. I would love to do that for you but actually I think if we {insert better solution that takes less time or $$ here} it will actually give you better results.
Watch out for deadlines. If you are dealing with a critical client then they can often be a stickler for deadlines. Make sure to plan ahead of time to stay out of a sticky spot.
Put them on a pedestal. Most difficult clients act out as a way to ask for attention. Don’t indulge them but know that the more you ignore their phone calls on Saturday then the more emails you will receive. Create barriers ahead of time i.e. That’s what you hired your assistant for! And make sure to make them feel special when you are on the phone with them.
Ink It! There is a reason why you have a terms of agreement with your clients –to limit the craziness! Make sure to have your clients sign the terms of agreement when starting to work together. Within this agreement should be limitations in terms of the amount of changes that can be done to a draft, pricing, length of time committed, final deliverable among many other factors. If, your client is asking for more than what is in the contract don’t hesitate to point back to it.
Step to the side. Here’s a novel idea: If you stop resisting then the resistance disappears. Odds are, your client is being difficult because they either want attention, love to argue or are stubborn as hell. But, if you step out of the way then the resistance disappears. (And, most difficult clients then back track and want to try it your way instead). It’s like a three year old who doesn’t want to eat. Stop trying to feed them and take a bite yourself. Result? They start crying and are begging for the food.
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