6 Ways to Handle Demanding Clients [+Tips]

Demanding and dissatisfied customers tell up to 15 people about everything they didn’t like about your work. That’s 15 potential leads you’ll never get. Plus, research says it’ll most likely take 12 positive experiences to get your reputation up to speed again.

That’s a lot. But you don’t really need to go through that much effort.

In fact, simply resolving the complaint in your client’s favor can get them to work with you again and refer more people toward you. That’s the secret trick to dealing with demanding clients. But it’s not the only way.

Let’s figure out some other effective ways to get demanding clients raving about your work.

How Do You Identify Demanding Clients?

A demanding client is the my-way-or-the-highway kind of person or business. They know they want something done a certain way, and they won’t take common sense into consideration when asking you to work on their project.

These clients negatively impact your business, and working with them can be emotionally draining, increase escalations by 68%, impact your physical health, and limit your upselling ability to barely 6%.

Here are some demands they could make:

1. I needed it yesterday – They expect you to bend to every whim they have, even impossible deadlines.
2. That isn’t how it should be done – These clients indicate that they know your business better than you do.
3. This is wrong, that’s wrong, that’s wrong too; everything’s wrong! – These clients yell at your team and try to let you know they’re doing you a favor. They’re abusive.
4. That shouldn’t take you long to do – They ask for a hideous amount of research or another activity that’ll take way too much time and slap it with an “easy” label when it’s anything but.
5. X offers the same service but cheaper. Can you give me a discount? – These clients try their hardest to get as much free work out of you as possible.

If you’ve said “yes” to a demanding client or can’t say “no” because they’re a referral, let’s discuss six ways to handle demanding clients without causing problems for your business.

1. Remain calm even if the sky’s falling

Stay calm if a client is screaming at you through texts or the phone. Not doing so can escalate the situation, which can bite you back later in the form of reputational damage and high customer churn.

Remember, 32% of customers avoid your company after a single poor customer service experience, while 61% start buying products from your competitor.

And it’s a worldwide phenomenon. For example, here’s how much importance people from different countries give to customer experience:

So, the benefits of staying calm can’t be overstated.

Plus, you can’t get your point across when you’re frustrated or angry, so don’t try to. But how do you stay calm during a difficult situation? Here are two effective ways:

• Slow down – If you’re overwhelmed or frustrated, take a step back and try to relax. Walking, lying on the floor, or venting anonymously on Reddit can all help.
• Reframe the situation – Instead of treating the situation as a crisis, think of it as a challenge. Challenges have a possible out — crises sometimes don’t.

2. Give a prompt reply

It’s not always good to reply to a client when you’re angry because you might come off as defensive or frustrated, which can ruin your chances of setting the situation right.

At the same time, quickly responding when a client raises an issue is crucial to success if you’re providing services. That’s because speed and convenience matter most to over 90% of your clients, with 60% expecting you to reply within ten minutes.

That’s not enough time to even type a paragraph, let alone face a client who’s about to burst all over you.

So, investing in customer service software is crucial. Why? Because it comes with a unified social inbox, message alerts, and an integrated chatbot. All of these can jumpstart the conversation for you while you plan what to do.

Client-facing project management tools are perfect for tackling contractor work, deliverables and communication with your clients as such software allow you to be prompt and have everything organized in one space.

3. Listen to your client

Most clients want to be heard, so taking the time to understand their problems with empathy will help you solve the issue. This could take the form of giving them enough time when scheduling meetings or coming armed with possible solutions to a call.

In fact, prepping solutions before even scheduling a meeting is a great way to show that you’re taking your client seriously. It’ll also increase the likelihood of your customer remaining with you by 91%.

But it’s not the only way. Here are some other considerations you can make:

• Don’t interrupt – While you might want to present your solution or an idea the moment you think of it, interrupting your client mid-conversation can make it seem like you don’t care.
• Ask follow-up questions – These show that you’re actually processing what your client is saying and want to know more.
• Take notes – Note-taking essentially says, “What you’re talking about is so important that I’m taking notes.” This makes your clients feel like you’re listening and are involved in solving their issues.

4. Identify the problem

Once you know your client’s feelings, figure out where things went wrong. Here’s what to do:

• Identify what went wrong – Find out what (not who) FUBAR-ed the situation, such as lack of communication, irregular updates, unreasonably high pricing, or a failure to show that you’re working hard enough. Was the problem on the client’s side? Or yours?
• Break your problem down – Split the complete thing into short blocks to understand whether or not each component of the project contributed to the issue as a whole.
• Brainstorm possible solutions – Encourage your team to generate as many solutions as possible. The more, the better. But don’t spend hours on it. Time management is key in high-risk situations.
• Narrow down the best solution – Select three options that will work best for your situation. But make sure everybody’s on board before presenting them to your client.

5. Offer a solution

After figuring out the best solutions to the issue, email your client and ask them whether they agree.

Plus, if you’re suggesting significant changes, provide reasons why you’re doing so. This personalization can increase the chances of your clients sticking the situation out with you by 60%.

You should also skip over the “whose fault it was” discussion if you can avoid it. But if you can’t, here’s what to do if you messed up:

• Apologize ASAP – Don’t save the apology for later. Instead, start with “We’re sorry we let you down” and end with another apology.
• Admit your mistake –  While you may not be the one to blame, the mistake happened under your watch, so take responsibility.
• Empathize with your client – Your client is feeling angry—and for good reason. So, acknowledge that you know how they feel. It’ll make them feel heard.
• Show that the issue won’t happen again – Outline what you will do to resolve the situation and explain any changes you’ll make to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

But if your client messed up, you’ll have to make sure they’re actually wrong before progressing, then schedule a face-to-face meeting. Getting a VoIP business phone service is the key to avoiding running up thousands in call bills here.

However, once on the call, focus on facts, back your findings with your experience, and devise a solution. Be as objective as possible. Also, remember to personalize the experience to make your client feel heard. 

6. Walk away

While it can be hard to turn clients away, especially when you need them, accommodating outrageous requests (like redoing everything without getting paid) is terrible for business. So, if the issue was on your client’s end, let them know and walk away if the situation doesn’t improve.

But if it’s on your side, try to meet them with your proposed solution.

If they still have problems with it, cut your losses (e.g., by taking the financial hit of refunding your client) because demanding clients’ financial and emotional impact on your company can be shockingly high.

3 Things to do better next time

Working with demanding clients can be an eye-opening experience. It can also be a nightmare, especially if you fail to diffuse the situation. To make sure you never get blindsided by your clients again, let’s look at three things to do better next time:

1. Set clear expectations upfront

The goal of signing a contract isn’t fulfilling unrealistic deadlines by ignoring your own life. Instead, it’s to give the client the best solution, even if it isn’t what they expected.

The trick here is to back up your claims with why your way will work better in the long term, preferably with social proof and case studies, and when the client will get the project. Setting realistic deadlines equals happy clients.

2. Show, not tell, project progress

Your client will never know what you’re doing if you don’t communicate it to them. So, schedule weekly meetings to show your progress to your clients.

You should also send written progress reports in the form of text messages and emails every day. This will help them understand whether you’re doing everything correctly and catch errors before they turn into last-minute problems.

3. Talk like a human

Dry, lifeless communication isn’t engaging and may give the impression that you aren’t taking the project as seriously as you should. That could cause clients to walk away.

So, share details on work progress, whether you’ve run into a wall, and how far along you are. These show that you’re an actual human with real thoughts, which alone can make working with demanding clients easier.

But spending hours creating personalized messages for every client isn’t the way to client success. Instead, use timesaving social media management software like Hootsuite and other alternatives to schedule posts beforehand.

This is especially important because social media is the top channel American consumers use to communicate with brands:

Source

It’s All in Your Customer Service Approach

Demanding clients are a fact of the entrepreneur or solopreneur’s life. While dealing with a my-way-or-the-highway client can be a headache, the right customer service approach can give you an 80% chance of converting them again.

But figuring out the process on the go isn’t easy. That’s why creating a customer service plan and getting customer service software is so crucial.

These help you track everything from the project contract to submission, diffuse minor issues when they pop up, and give you enough time to get your ducks in order when a major snafu inevitably happens. And that’s all you need to win back your clients.

First published on September 27, 2023.