Anyone in a service industry has had that dreaded feeling.  You see your email or caller identification and realize it is “that” client trying to reach you.  The client I reference is that extremely difficult client that we all have.

The natural inclination for many of us is to not take the call or respond to the email.  From a risk avoidance perspective, this is the last thing that you want to do. money.jpg

Unfortunately, we are all going to have difficult clients from time to time.  It is how you deal with that client that will make the difference between having a difficult and demanding client or a customer complaint to defend.

My late father had a saying that I think applies here; kill them with kindness.  Yes, difficult clients will take your attention away from other clients, but you still must make sure you address even the concerns of these difficult clients.

One key when working with these clients is to document everything that you do.  You speak with the client, follow-up with a confirming email.  The client ignores your advice; follow-up with an email restating your advice and note the consequences for the client not following it.

There is no easy way to deal with difficult clients, but the key is never ignoring them.  That will only create an issue where there may be none.  Don’t be afraid to hold a hand from now and again.  It may make the difference from just having a difficult client or a customer complaint.

* photo from freedigitalphotos.net