7 tips on how to keep peace with your difficult business clients

Many successful businesses can have a difficult time in pleasing all of their clients.

Some clients can be difficult to manage which can cause a lot of problems for your business. As a result, here a few few tips on how to work effectively with clients who give you a hard time.

1. Always protect yourself

The most important thing to do is to learn how to protect yourself. Always get everything in writing so there are no misunderstandings down the road.

2. You can’t please everybody

The law of averages state that sooner or later you will work with a difficult client and/or get a bad testimonial from somebody. It is 100 percent impossible to please everybody regardless how good you may be or how many awards you may have won.

3. Develop a good reputation

Its important to  develop a good reputation in your field before dealing with your difficult clients. The last thing any business person wants to happen is to have one disgruntled client ruin the last 15 years of your successful business.

4. Develop a strong network of friends

Develop a network of loyal friends who can help you down the road. Your friends can give you additional advice on how to deal with difficult people.

5. Be honest and sincere

You need to be sincere and caring all the time and not just when your in the public eye. People can tell when someone is truly honest and caring. A person should not do anything that they wouldn’t want to become public. If problems do arise from your clients, people will always side with the honest and sincere person.

6. Talk to the person who is giving you a hard time

Explain to the person what the problem is and ask him or her for some suggestions on solving the problem. Sometimes, your clients might not realise what they are doing. Ask them nicely if you can do anything differently.

7. Look at your current problem through your customer’s eyes

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and get a feel of how they view the situation. You might be surprised at what you find.

Everybody has to deal with not so great customers. The key is to find ways to reduce any conflicts. Open communication is very important. Be flexible and try following these suggestions. If nothing else works, then maybe you need to seek additional guidance.

Stan Popovich is the author of “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear Using Psychology, Christianity and Non Resistant Methods”.