Towards the end of my talk last night on How to Handle Difficult Clients, I summarised a seven step process that I have not previously shared on this blog:
| 1 | Listen to the client | They won’t listen to you until you have listened to them. When their mouths are open, their ears are closed. |
| 2 | Offer EMPATHY first. Do not start with “It wasn’t my fault” | Make clear that you appreciate their position. Eg: “I can understand why you must be upset by that.” Repeat if necessary. [You are empathising, not sympathising and not agreeing that you, or anyone else, has done something wrong] |
| 3 | Ask questions Upset people tend to start in the middle | Ask questions so that you can get the whole story and are able to understand their problem. |
| 4 | Pause | Make clear that you’re not offering some ‘pat’ prepared response. What follows needs to evidence that you have been listening to what they’ve said. |
| 5 | Explain what YOU can do for them | Outline what YOU can do. If it’s not what they want, explain your reasons without BLAMING them. Take responsibility for the follow up action |
| 6 | Keep your promise | Do whatever you said you would do and ensure that anyone else involves does so too (as far as you can anyway). Don’t simply delegate or dump it. |
| 7 | Go one step further | This makes the difference between quite good service and excellent service. Contact the client afterwards and ask if they are happy with the solution. If they pause before saying ‘yes’ – they aren’t really happy. Go through the loop again. |
