Let’s face it, there is a fair percentage of clients out there that run an autocratic style when it comes to their suppliers and providers. Not surprising given the persistence, focus and hard work they continue to put into their roles and businesses to achieve what they are aiming for. And there are a percentage who have just learnt that ‘the client is always right’ is generally the best mentality to go with to get what they want. May not be malicious, just their view and style. Perhaps the selling organisations and people can take some responsibility for this as well, with marketing and sales tactics designed sell as much as possible with what’s best for the client running second at best.

What can tough clients look like specifically? This will help us with techniques to shift the relationship.

• Clients that expect way more than others, the contract or even what we may consider is reasonable.
• Clients that create and enforce a one-sided relationship in which they feel they deserve everything but lack consideration or teaming for best outcomes.
• Clients expecting out of hours and immediate response when response times aren’t part of any agreement or discussed expectation.
• Clients contacting you via non-business channels.
• Clients playing team members off against each other.
• Clients bringing you into their own organisational politics.

There are likely a lot more and keen to hear about your experiences and suggestions. These are common from what we have seen.

There are a couple of shared elements that come into play with tough client dynamics. Not all applicable always, but the list to consider.

• Ourselves: Our own motivations personally and professionally. Are we acting for ourselves, the business or the client – in what ratios.
• Contracts: Or lack there of. That outline the expectations and deliverables of all agreements. And indemnity, liability, payment, conflicts and ethics etc.
• Legislation: That govern workplace requirements, safety, hours, discrimination, bullying, privacy, criminal activity etc.
• The client: Personality/style and their environment.

There is more detail under each of these which you can dig into if you feel appropriate. Legislation can take you into many spaces.

Ourselves

The first one to tackle is some self-reflection. Over the years in every business we have worked in, we have heard phrases like ‘gold-plating’ or ‘over-servicing’ used often enough to be worth discussing. The short answer is that there is a balance point between solid client first services and over servicing. It also evolves and can be largely subjective due to our own personal needs/motivations. In ‘helping’ roles we see it clearest, sometimes the people that take on these roles are doing it to get a sense of purpose back. Which is good and bad. Good that they want to help, but not so great because the drive to be thought of as the most helpful and best at the job can quickly take over what is just good service.

The other challenge is that in a team environment we want to keep client service consistent as best we can so that clients get the same experience and can tolerate change of staff etc. If you have ever joined a client team and heard feedback that you or a team member was ‘not as helpful as the last person’, then it may be something to do with someone going outside the role at times and setting unreasonable expectations.

Some of the dynamics you are experiencing may also be from unclear internal roles and responsibilities in your organisation. Or lack of respect for them. Clients will naturally find paths to get what they need and often times this hurts the business. For example, hurting profitability by getting things through people they know will just say yes. Or hurting culture through disempowering roles and creating more complexity and tension in client relationships.

Suggestion – tackle any service quality issues and improvements as a team. If there are better ways to do things then find the paths to raise the concerns and suggestions for collaborative change and overall team and company success. As opposed to just going it alone and operating differently. Far more rewarding and valuable. Keep an eye on the choices you make day to day and how they align with the role and others in the role.

Contracts

If you ever need to pull them out you are in a bad place, but they do need to be clear and provide good coverage. Although hopefully you set up all the expectations and specifics prior to signing so that at most it is only a coffee conversation to adjust.

The contract is you first go to for what was agreed. If you have a contract covering your role with the client in anyway and you haven’t read it then you really should – always. From day 1 it has you operating in line with expectations set. If a role doesn’t have a contract then you may find expectations set in marketing or sales material for example. Industry definitions of certain roles are helpful, and your team on what they do and don’t do.

If you have ongoing misalignment then having a direct conversation about your understanding of the contract and the clients so that you can identify next steps to resolve.

Legislation

Let’s leave this one alone as we believe it speaks for itself and is really too broad to try and address. If you think your challenge has legal implications then you will want to engage management, HR / Legal earlier rather than later.

The Client

We have found just three mental orientations have helped most in our client relationships:

1. Don’t force things: the relationship, artificial deadlines, communication, sales etc.
2. Learn your client, their role demands and their environment.
3. Keep your calm and maintain integrity, consideration and a positive helpful orientation.

These seem simple right, obvious.

It’s easy to lose patience. Business is fast paced and many companies are expecting quarterly improvements, visible action and results. And then personally we may see things that need doing, that the client ‘should be’ doing. We may get frustrated or at least disheartened when clients don’t immediately take us in as collaborators, when they don’t listen to all the ideas and experience we bestow upon them. Take your time. Relationships take time to establish and the biggest barrier to that is telling people what, how and why. Buffer the pressure from your own business if required, you know your client and what is enough. You can still stay open to learning strategies and influencing clients to good outcomes, but artificial deadlines driven by internal paperwork really needs to be pushed back on.

The fastest way to a solid trusting relationship is by demonstrating you understand them and their role. This must be by far the easiest and most successful orientation to turn around difficult clients. Once they see you understand what they need to do and also see you are helping them do it without them asking for it then a lot of walls will drop. Depending on the person, sometimes this understanding is at a personal level; people like to feel seen, respected and valued. So relating with them, recognising their background and experience is part of the relationship. Some clients may even want to relate on who they are as people, share stories of hobbies and family etc. This is a space you can meet them if they offer, it is part of trust building and understanding each other. Just make sure it is done with integrity and consideration. Also advocate for your client where appropriate. You are now a voice back into your own company for them and you can help others understand their current position, deadlines etc so that your company as a whole can have a better relationship. This advocacy role is highly valued by clients that have lots of touch points with your organisation.

Finally, be patient and positive. This is hard sometimes when clients aren’t respectful in how they speak or treat you. Keep in mind this is not personal and is about the client-supplier dynamic they have learnt, and likely challenges they are having which flow over into your interactions. Boundaries are important to maintain while continuing to be responsive and work on developing the relationship.

Maybe it’s time to move on?

We shouldn’t always compromise and take a beating, there have been times when we have had to tackle expectations, communication and behavior head on with clients. Business is a two-way street. There’s a neat little variation to the ‘Client Quadrant framework’ which may help you decide if it’s time to invest elsewhere – or at least adjust which clients get the investment. ‘Client maintenance’ is on one axis and ‘client value’ is on the other. If you have a high maintenance low value client, then perhaps it’s time to talk to them about parting ways.