Ok, let’s talk about how to handle difficult clients in your coaching business or agency. When you start your business, your mindset is, “I want a lot of customers”. Then you get those customers and they aren’t always the easiest or best to deal with. Not all customers are the same and yes, some can be difficult clients. Not all are created equal. Some will be easier to work with than others.
So…if you’re expecting success, you should know how to deal with the inevitable difficult clients.
Everyone knows how to deal with great customers. They love you, you love them. Done. These are not your difficult clients and typically won’t become them unless something really goes sideways.
Let’s talk about the flip-side of that – how to deal with the difficult customers.
No one likes to talk about difficult clients until it’s too late. No one wants to think there are difficult clients looming. But sometimes there are. And sometimes those difficult customers are a result of our own lack of organization, communication or processes.
Steps to Handle Difficult Clients
Have written agreements. Be thorough in your contracts. If it isn’t written, it isn’t true. One way to deal with someone who can never be satisfied is to point to the document. (Side note). This also helps keep you accountable to what you have promised to deliver.
Holy Grail of Objectivity – don’t be too quick to get defensive or reactive. Really look at how you can be causative about improving the situation. Maybe listening to your client and acknowledging their concerns. Giving feedback on what you can do to make things better.
Apply diplomacy, not emotion. Before handling any emotionally challenging situation, be sure to get yourself into a good mental state. Go for a walk, eat a good meal, take your vitamins, hydrate, then reflect on the situation and decide how to handle it. Personally, we like to verbally communicate with the person on zoom or by phone so that we can keep things very professional.
Don’t hide from it. More communication is better, not less. Bonus tip – don’t hit “send” on an email you’ve written emotionally. Have someone else read it for you before you send it. It’s like pressing the trigger on a gun. You can never get the bullet back.
Create clearly established boundaries or use an intermediary, like an assistant between you and the clients if you find handling clients challenging. We always recommend limiting personal contact with clients so that you can be in the CEO role of your business, not working IN your business but rather ON your business.
We’ve seen people throw their arms up and walk away from perfectly amazing businesses because they had difficulty dealing with clients. Follow this advice to void that outcome. Better yet, organize your business so someone else is responsible for working with your clients.
When Mariany and her business partner joined CEO Freedom Accelerator, her biggest complaint was that she felt like she had to chase people and beg them to join her network marketing team.
They were seeking a business coach who could help them maximize the potential of social media to grow their customer base.
They had been trained to use “old school” MLM methods that no longer worked in the digital world. Not to mention, COVID had everyone in lockdown so going online was urgently important to their business growth.
The CEO Freedom Accelerator gave them a branding and digital strategy that was lightyears better than what they had been doing.
Our accountability coach helped them implement the strategy quickly so they saw almost immediate results. We also directed them on a new offer as the current “entry” product had a lot of science behind it and they were “numbing” their audience with all of the scientific terms. We had her switch the initial offer to their skincare line and utilize the images of amazing results they had available.
The brand they created – ReNu – was so professional and exciting, people were literally begging Mariany to sell them her product. Her team grew, her customer base grew, and she experienced the easy flow of sales she desperately wanted when she joined us.
She also grew a TikTok channel from nothing to 78,000 followers, giving her an audience to also sell coaching and additional products and services.
Tired of being ignored online and ready for rapid growth? Schedule a call and let’s talk about your business.
**All businesses are different. No incomes are represented or guaranteed in any amount for any person and are used for explanation and information purposes only**
Adrienne Hill is a dynamic force who launched her business helping new entrepreneurs master technology for lead generation and sales. She grew her business fairly quickly but found herself in the position of doing ALL the things…even the ones that wouldn’t make her money.
She was the graphic designer, tech person, sales person, customer support, copywriter, tax person, etc. etc. Add to that she was working full-time in a high-stress corporate job and she was inches away from burn-out.
Adrienne came to the CEO Freedom Accelerator desperate for answers. She wanted to know how she could grow her business without killing herself or resenting the business she had created. We worked with her to map out her growth strategy and implement a hiring strategy that would be very cost-effective but allow her to scale.
Her results enabled her to exit her corporate job within 90 days while hitting highest ever income months and cracking six-figures rapidly.
Here’s her story in her own words:
Let’s create your success story. Book a call today:
**All businesses are different. No incomes are represented or guaranteed in any amount for any person and are used for explanation and information purposes only**
I’m super excited for you to listen to this week’s Booming Business Podcast Episode with David Lee Jensen, the Hiring Expert. Doing this interview was a blast…David’s super fun to be around and listen to. And, the bottom line is he truly knows how to get businesses BOOMING…including YOURS!
How to Hire the Right Person – I met David in the Caribbean (fun!!!) while I was there for a marketing convention with some amazing entrepreneurs, including Grant Cardone. A colleague kept saying he wanted to connect me with a really cool guy who writes for the Huffington Post because he thought we’d love to collaborate. We never got around to it on US soil, but…
As phenomenal as the universe works, all three of us were in Aruba at the same time for a variety of different reasons, and David and I finally had the opportunity to connect. My friend was right…we instantly meshed, our purposes were aligned, and we’ve been collaborating every since.
David is the #1 Amazon Best Selling author of the The Naked Interview: How to Hire Without Regret and has rubbed shoulders with some of the greatest entrepreneurs on the planet, including Sir Richard Branson, Ariana Huffington, Joe Polish, Grant Cardone, and more. His column, The Hiring Guru, on HuffPo is incredibly popular, providing real-time advice to business owners on how to find excellent hires who are aligned with their business goals and mission.
He’s consulted with Fortune 500 companies, graced the stages in front of too many audiences to mention, is a sought-after business coach, and an all around great guy. Plus he’s married to one of the coolest chics I know, Sunny, who’s got a featured show on BLAB.
So, why do YOU need to know how to hire the right person?
No matter what size your business, you’ll need to hire at some point. It’s better to do it the right way than the wrong way…save yourself the trouble. I’m not sure why, but most entrepreneurs never think to educate themselves on hiring before we do it. There is actual skill involved to getting awesome people aligned and working efficiently on your team.
You might be thinking…
Not me. I’m SOLO! I don’t need to know how to hire the right person….
BALDERDASH! Even if you’re a die-hard solo-preneur, unless you are proficient in everything from bookkeeping to graphic design (and are crazy enough to think you can do the best job all on your own), you’ll need to hire or outsource someone to help you get the jobs done, done right, and done great. It’s also the only way to expand a business effectively and have your business working for you instead of you being a slave to your business. Unless you’re the type of guy or gal who wants to work 20 hours a day only to never see your business grow…and I don’t think that’s you. Knowing how to hire is as essential as knowing how to pay your taxes.
David’s advice will help you weed through the forest of applicants, know what to ask, how to ask it, and how to know if someone is going to help you forward your business or just waste your time and/or resources (been there…done that!).
He’s my go-to guy on anything to do with business expansion, hiring, and organization. Now you get to apply is wisdom to your business to.
Here’s a run-down of what you’ll learn in this episode:
:51 – How David became to Hiring Guru
1:31 – The Two Areas That Can Be The Downfall of Any Business
2:00 – The Amazon Best Selling Book
3:38 – When Should You Consider Hiring
6:00 – The First Steps You Should Take BEFORE You Hire Someone
7:15 – What You Need to Have in Place BEFORE The Interview
8:00 – What Do You Say In The Ad
8:56 – How to Separate an OKAY Hire to an AMAZING Hire
11:39 – The 10 Truths of Hiring: Truth #1
14:14 – Getting the REAL TRUTH From the References
15:15 – Creative Interview Questions That Will Expose DUD Applicants
18:30 – How Can You Set Up Your New Hires to Have a GREAT Experience
19:27 – What 2 Thinks You Need to Have in Place (GOLDEN NUGGET)
20:51 – The Most Important Part of Hiring
23:20 – Mistakes To NOT Make During an Interview
27:20 – Who Should Be Doing The Hiring In Your Business
29:30 – Why An HR Person Isn’t Always Great At Hiring
32:12 – How to Connect With David Lee Jensen
[bctt tweet=”You’re absolutely missing the boat on a great hire if you don’t…David Lee Jensen”]
Let me know how this podcast is helping you to #BOOM Your Business. Leave a comment below and I’ll write back!
