Dealing with Difficult Clients / Meeting Notes March 2021

Location: Virtual

Attendees: Janet, Salma, Cathy, Carolina, Janice, Tamara W., Tamara R.

Announcements

Upcoming Meetings

April 20 – Organizing Strategies – Website link | Facebook link

May 18 – Business and Self-Improvement Books – Website link | Facebook link

June 15 – Guest Speaker: Susanna Miles, Integrative Brand Marketing Coach – Website link | Facebook link

Future Topics

• Mid-year goal review
• Your biggest mistake
• Not-so-everyday objects and how to use them

In the comments, please let us know what topics you’d like to learn about, explore, or present on in the future.

Discussion: Dealing with Difficult Clients

We shared examples of difficult clients, including some we’ve worked with and some we’ve chosen not to work with. We also discussed the ways we’ve handled various situations and offered suggestions for the future.

Examples of Difficult Clients

• don’t respond to emails asking for feedback or additional details needed to complete a task or project
• only answer some of the questions you ask in your email
• don’t respect your time
• indecisive – constantly change their mind
• don’t differentiate between brainstorming and presenting a new project
• don’t complete the tasks that are needed before you can complete a project
• have personal issues that interfere with work
• too demanding
• too many emails
• vague email subject lines, e.g. Hello, Quick Question
• “quick questions” that take a long time to answer
• late to pay invoices
• self-involved
• something about them makes you uncomfortable or sends up red flags
• poor communicators
• don’t respect your expertise, see you as a helper not a partner
• expect you to be available all the time, regardless of vacations, medical appointments, etc.

Solutions

• ask lots of questions up front to find out how likely they are to be respectful
• charge emergency/late fee to clients who don’t give enough lead time
• after a long conversation, email a summary of tasks to be done and ask them to confirm
• don’t rely on email – explore alternatives such as Slack, shared documents, phone meetings, etc.
• understand your client’s preferred method and frequency of communication and try to make it work
• discuss how and when you will communicate as part of your client onboarding process
• change subject line when responding to clients who don’t use this properly
• send separate emails for each issue rather than one email with a long list
• if client sends an email with multiple unrelated issues, send separate replies and change subject line accordingly
• trust your gut
• be confident – if you’re not, you attract clients who will take advantage of you
• fire them if no other solution works
• as you deal with difficult clients, pay attention to the problem areas – awareness of this can help you identify your ideal client and experience fewer challenging situations

Related Resources

A Developer’s Guide to Dealing With Difficult Clients

Please share your thoughts in the comments.