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Today's article
Dealing with a difficult client
Have you ever had a notoriously bad client that you inherited or maybe one that just evolved into a bad situation. If you have a bad client, then step back a moment and take a deep breath. Any bad client situation is actually an opportunity in disguise. It may be hard to see the opportunity when you are mending the wounds but try to take the approach that there is a positive outcome to the situation in there somewhere.
First a few comments:
- Don't settle with just your staff's perspectives.
- Apples are apples and oranges are oranges. You may not have either.
- Turning a bad client around is fun so think about the good times ahead.
- In over 90% of the time, there is a logical reason for the dissatisfaction.
Let's discuss this a bit.
First, I suggest that you not take your staff's perspectives as fact. I've seen too many cases of a "bad client" being portrayed that way because the staff or manager doesn't know how to handle the situation. In fact, many times it is because your IT organization doesn't know how to get to the root of the problem. Before you write off any client, you should always inspect the situation until you are confident there is no reasonable solution to the problem. In my opinion, there are only rare cases where you can't turn a bad situation around.
Second, I mentioned above that the two fruits are different, or maybe you aren't even dealing with "fruit". When you inspect a situation, you may find that what you have been hearing about a client situation is not at all the full picture. Many times you may be surprised to find that not only does the client have a legitimate reason for their dissatisfaction but that they are actually being more than reasonable toward you and your company. The key is to determine what the real issues are.
Third, helping someone is always fun, especially when they appreciate what you have done. Your client has no desire to be dissatisfied with your company's products or services. Solving the problem is helping both your client and your company and when you solve it, everyone takes notice. Like I said, fun times are ahead and opportunity can result from the most disastrous situations.
Lastly, almost every single client dissatisfaction situation I have seen had a logical reason underneath it. If you hear things like, "They don't know what they are doing." or "They always break their system.", get ready to go fishing. General comments like these tend to tell you that the person making the comment doesn't actually know what the real problem is.
Okay, so what do you do if you have a terrible, unreasonable client?
Steps to take
1. Determine the problem in specific terms - Meet with the client with the purpose to determine in very specific
terms what the problems are. Before you meet, do your homework and gain as much information as possible to help you understand the situation. DO NOT look for reasons why the client is in the wrong or ways to defend your company; you must listen to the client and be objective because the reality may be that your organization or company is actually causing the problem.
Guide the client to discuss specific issues and not generalities. Every generality has to be converted into specific issues or thrown out for you to determine whether a problem truly exists. When you hear a general statement, ask for examples or specifics to narrow the comment down. Remember, you can't fix a client dissatisfaction problem unless you know what the specific problem issues are.
2. Quantify the issues - At the end of your meeting, quantify the issues by summarizing in as specific terms as you can what the client has stated to be the problems.
3. Gain your client's agreement on the list of issues - After you quantify the issues, ask the client if he/she agrees that those are the issues. Ask if there are any other issues that you've missed. If there are, add them to the list. Be sure that when you leave the meeting, you quantify all the specific problems that are causing the client heartburn.
4. Gain your client's commitment - Ask the client for their commitment to what you want to see happen when you resolve the quantified issues. The desired outcome may be to gain a positive referral, to have the client pay an outstanding invoice owed your company, or to purchase a new release of software. The bottom line here is that you need to quantify the positive result that the client takes when you solve the problems. The resulting action by the client will fully indicate you have solved their issues.
5. Do not solve it today - Bad situations don't get there over night. Solving them shouldn't be immediate even if you might be able to. The worst thing you can do is to do a "fire, ready, aim" and give the client a quick fix that ultimately does not solve the issues. It only deepens the problems and adds to the lack of credibility your client already has for you. Take your time to discuss the issue with others in the company and to develop a sound approach that works toward the ultimate goal before you deliver possible solutions to your client.
Give the client a timeframe when you will have a response and plan to address the issues.
6. Follow-up in writing - Send your client a follow-up letter or e-mail as soon as possible that summarizes the meeting and lists the issues and client commitment that was agreed upon. In the letter, give the client the timeframe that you plan to provide a recommended solution.
7. Develop a plan - You must develop a plan that is achievable and one that addresses the need that will solve the problems identified in your client discussion. Certain that when you do this part, you take a conservative approach to help insure you deliver what you say you will do. This may be your last chance to turn your client around so now is not the time to misfire.
- Develop a detailed plan that will address the issues identified by your client. The approach may require the client to
pay more money for your services. If that's the right answer, don't hesitate to ask for more money; just be aware that
until you establish some level of credibility, asking for more may be considered inappropriate, even outrageous. If the
solution requires more cost to provide higher levels of client service, be sure you have a tight proposal that defines the
reasons and the benefits the additional costs are going to give the client.
- Develop specific approaches to solve each issue and be specific.
- Prioritize the initiatives. As much as possible, place a "quick winner" at the top to get off to a positive start. Both the
client and your IT organization need to see some positive progress quickly.
- Identify specific responsibilities of each party to achieve successful outcomes.
- Quantify how you both will be able to determine when the issue is resolved.
- Put it all in writing.
8. Deliver the plan and gain the client's agreement - "Don't leave home without it." What I mean is that you can't leave the client without an agreement to your proposal, even if you have to modify it slightly. Leave without the client's agreement and commitment and you might as well go ahead and "throw in the towel" because you will not succeed. Both of you have to be committed to a positive resolution and the plan that gets you there.
9. Follow-up, Follow-up, Follow-up - Make it a point to check on the "client turnaround initiatives" status every other day in the beginning to ensure all of your commitments to the client are taking place. You may have to be the catalyst to make certain things happen, even with your own staff. Remember, your staff may believe that there is absolutely no way to please this client when the problem has actually been that your team has not really heard what the client is saying to them.
Sometimes it helps to have a bit of gray hair and the experience that goes with it. It's also easier to view a problem when you're not down in the midst of the battle; that's why the generals seek the high ground. Be certain to meet or beat every deadline or let the client know well ahead of time when an unforeseen problem risks completing an initiative. No one likes to hear bad news but bad news delivered in advance allows you to plan for the impact it will have.
10. Communicate often - For a change, contact the client before he is expecting you to. Now is the time to communicate very proactively. Before you call, be sure you have the latest update on every outstanding issue and any new events that might affect your progress. Lack of communication is probably the greatest contributor of client dissatisfaction. All of us dislike uncertainty, having a need to depend on someone else to do our job and not knowing where they stand on an important issue, or not getting a response when we need their help. Keep your client out of the dark and in the light and see the difference in their attitude toward your support efforts for yourself.
Final comments
A few comments that will help you as you work through a client turnaround process are:
- Everyone likes to deal with nice people. Be nice and you may find your client can be nice as well.
- Be polite but firm. When you need the client to do his part, quantify it and expect it just as he should with you.
- Take charge. The client is looking for you to take the initiative and to lead the way.
- Be conservative in your response planning so you are absolutely sure you can deliver what you say you will do.
- Be objective. The client is always right even if he is wrong. It's still up to you to manage his expectations properly.
- The worst case is that you lose the client. The world still turns on its axis if that happens.
- The best case is you develop a highly referenced client who buys more from you. THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT !!
Best of success,
Mike Sisco, ITBMC
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