There is no doubt in my mind that just about anyone in business that deals with customers has had to deal with a rude client at some point. Maybe you were able to avoid the conflict, or maybe you just gave into whatever the client wanted. Or maybe it came down to that you just could not stand it and told the client exactly how you felt. Whatever the outcome, there can be some ways that you may like to use to help avoid potential conflict later on, especially if you see the signs early on in the sale.
While rude customers can happen in many forms, and in many different type of interactions with many different businesses. the main focus i want to deal with today is rude clients within your business providing a service as a consultant or contractor. This is where you can have a lot more control over the situation and there are more steps often involved that you can put to use to help you to avoid rude clients. Where as in an environment like a retail store, the interaction can happen quite quickly, and the rudeness displayed by customers cannot always be directly altered, as it is not always a result of you or your store.
One of the first things that you need to remember, when you come up against a rude client is “Don’t take it personally!” What it comes down to is the reason they are being rude may have nothing to do with you at all. It could just be a side effect of something else either in their personal or business life. By taking it personally and acting accordingly, you my just be making a bad situation even worse. One of the best things you can do at this point is to just listen.
The second thing to remember is possibly more something you need to do before it even gets to the pointof the customer being rude. It basically comes down to being sure before you begin a project that you are both on the same page. There are a number of ways that you can do this.
- The first point is a little repeition, but you basically need to be sure that you are listening to the requirements. If you do not hear what the customer wants how can you expect to deliver the correct result.
- The second point should be seen as part of the listening, and that is taking as many notes as you need, to be sure that you will understand the requirements.
- The third step is possibly the most important, at this point you need to review your notes, and clarify your understand of what you have heard, and what you have made notes on with the client to ensure that you are understanding it in the same way they are explaining it.
- Finally create the contract for the consulting/contracting work around this brief. Look to set things like milestones, and clear points of everything that you see as being involved. This can make it a little easier for you both to see clear boundaries within your relationship, and understand what both of your expectations are.
Your finalstep if you can see the potential of a rude customer before you even start doing business is to basically just not take the job. If you can see the making’s of a rude customer even before you start working with them, there is often little chance that you are going to be able to change this. So while you may be thinking that the you need the work and you can change the client, the chances are slim that you will be able to change them enough, and if you find yourself getting stressed over rude customers, then is it really worth that stress just to get a job you may not even make money on trying to solve all the problems of a rude customer.