How To Deal With Fustrating Clients As A Business

 **Collaborative Post**

Clients aren’t always the most straightforward to deal with when it comes to your business. If you’re lucky, you might be blessed with clients who are easy-breezy but for the most part, you’re likely to have one or two fussy clients in your company’s lifetime.

Knowing how to handle these clients to help keep them satisfied and avoid blowouts, is important to make sure you have to let as few go as possible. Not only that but it can keep your employees happy when they’re not fighting with clients on a daily basis.

If you’re struggling to keep clients happy within your business, then here are some helpful tips for coping.

Listen to the client

First and foremost, it’s important to listen to your clients to understand where the problems lie. Oftentimes, there might be issues with the way they’re being handled by their account manager or the customer support service in general.

Perhaps they’re not fulfilled with the quality of service they’ve received when it comes to the products or services you provide. Identifying and pinpointing the problems are going to be the step in the right direction that you need when it comes to sorting problems out with frustrated clients.

Even though the situation might be frustrating for you, with the client making things tricky it pays well to listen to your client about why they’re upset or disgruntled.

Find some common ground

Sometimes, resolutions can’t always be solved fully on their side or yours. That’s why you need to be able to find some common ground in situations where you’re essentially saying ‘Let’s agree to disagree’. It’s not at the point where the problem itself could lead the client to go elsewhere but it can be something to put a pin in for now.

Finding common ground is always possible to some degree. Even if you don’t feel like you’re getting anywhere with a certain client, there might be something that helps resolve your differences to a point.

If you’re struggling to find any common ground, then the back and forth may continue until it eventually happens or they part ways with your business.

Take a gentle but stern approach

There are some situations where it’s best to pick your battles but other occasions where it’s good to be gentle but stern in your approach.

A prime example of this is when clients don’t pay their invoices on time. If you’re looking at how to get overdue invoices paid, then it’s important that you’re taking a no-prisoners approach with your invoice chasing. This means working with your finance team to identify the repeat offenders and put in a system whereby there’s very little room for late invoices to be paid.

When clients are taking the mick, it’s best to nip the problem in the bud, otherwise, they will likely continue to take advantage of you. Speak to the client directly whether that’s over the phone or via email. It might even be worthwhile sending letters to reinforce your concerns over financial payments.

Chasing invoices is essential, especially for any business that might already be struggling with its cash flow.

Create some boundaries

There are going to be some clients that often overstep the mark when it comes to the business relationship. Of course, it’s nice to build working relationships between you and the client but if you blur the line between work and friendship, that can cause some friction.

Creating boundaries is healthy and like you would set those boundaries in your personal life, it’s also good to do it for your work too. Look at how you’re interacting with clients currently. The reason why they might be frustrating you is that you have a friendship with them and you’re perhaps feeling as though they’re exploiting it for business.

Drawing a line between friendship and working relationships is key when running a business because it avoids any fallouts even if ‘it’s just business’.

Accept responsibility where it lies

Are there times when responsibilities are equal? Perhaps they’re the fault of your own or it’s all on your client. Frustrating clients can often feel like they’ve been wronged and that could be the case on some occasions.

It’s important to accept responsibility where it lies and to hold your business accountable for these mistakes where it’s valid. Be aware of when the responsibility lies on the client though as this involves a little more difficulty when shifting the blame. It has to be said and done in the right manner so as to not disgruntle your client too much.

Keep up communication

Keeping up communication is paramount because customer service is all about the level of comms provided that make a difference to your client’s experience. When a client feels like they’re being ignored, rightly so they’re going to be frustrated and demanding. It’s important that even when things are going right for you or your client, you’re being transparent and communicating regularly.

Look at how you’re interacting with your clients now. If there are communications missing between you and the client, consider making a conscious effort to improve those communications moving forward. Find what’s missing and fix those gaps in communication.

Consider letting them go

Have you tried everything you can to keep them happy? Are they still not satisfied? Well, then, are they the right fit for the business? Are you, for them? Sometimes, it’s best for both parties to cut their losses when it’s time.

You might have had a good run at it with the client or it might not have fitted from the beginning. Whatever that answer is, letting them go isn’t a sign of failure but an opportunity to learn and grow from the experience. Not every client is the right match for your business and vice versa.

Dealing with frustrating clients can be a tough one but like anything in business, it just takes a little time and adjustment in places. Use these tips to help deal with your frustrating clients this year and beyond.

xXx