Heads up! To view this whole video, sign in with your Courses Plus account or enroll in your free 7-day trial. Sign In Enroll
Preview
Start a free Courses trial
to watch this video
Dealing with Confrontation
4:33 with Paul BoagArguments or disagreements are bound to happen between you and your clients. First, it is important to keep calm, and Paul offers a number of additional steps that can help alleviate conflict.
So I'd like to tell you that if you've follow all of my guidance
0:00
about client services every client project will be wonderful
0:03
or we'll all live in this happy Utopian world and everything will be great.
0:08
Unfortunately, I can't tell you that. It'll be a nightmare.
0:13
There will be times when things go wrong.
0:15
There will be times when you have problems,
0:18
you fall out with the client, and aaah!
0:20
What do you do?
0:23
Dealing with confrontation is unfortunately
0:25
an important skill that you will need sooner or later.
0:28
I'm sorry about that but that's just the way things are.
0:31
My first piece of advice for this is keep calm.
0:35
Just because the client is angry,
0:38
don't allow yourself to go down that route as well.
0:40
Just because they raise their voice, doesn't mean you should.
0:43
It's much better to keep calm that it is to get angry.
0:46
Acknowledge if you've done something wrong
0:51
but also acknowledge that the situation
0:54
has reached this point and apologize for that.
0:57
Whether or not, you've messed up
1:00
or whether the client has been unreasonable,
1:03
it's still your responsibility to stop these kinds of problems
1:07
and you should apologize if things have gotten this far.
1:10
And, don't do that nonapology thing.
1:14
I'm sorry that you feel like that. That's not an apology.
1:17
That's just a platitude.
1:21
But you're sincere in your apologies.
1:24
It does make huge difference
1:27
and admitting your mistakes will take a lot of the wind out of theirselves.
1:29
It's really important to identify the underlying problem here.
1:35
Often what a client gets angry about isn't actually the root of the problem.
1:39
They might be annoyed because the design is not what they wanted
1:44
or that you've misunderstood their brief or whatever else
1:49
but actually the underlying problem might be--
1:53
"I don't feel you've listened to me."
1:55
So you need to work in identifying what that underlying problem is.
1:57
Be sure that you get to the root of the problem before going any further.
2:02
Also, another thing is like a dumb thing but ask the client what they want.
2:06
If they're unhappy, you often get into this argument about
2:13
what it is that they are unhappy about
2:17
and you focus on the problem and not the solution.
2:19
Instead of focusing on what's gone wrong,
2:23
say to the client, "Okay, what can I do to fix this?
2:25
What can I do make you happy?" and then do it.
2:27
Fix the problem.
2:31
Whatever it takes you got to go for it, you got to fix the problem.
2:33
And then, because you've asked the client what they want you to do
2:37
and then you've done it, then you can say, "Are you happy now?"
2:41
and of course they have to be happy
2:45
because you've done exactly what they've asked.
2:47
It's not always possible but it's a general rule of fun but it's not bad.
2:49
Once you've fixed the problem, get feedback on them.
2:54
Get them sit down and say, "Are you happy now?
2:57
Is there anything else I can do?"
2:59
Take stock as well.
3:01
With the client, sit down with them and say, "Okay. Where are we at?
3:03
Do we feel that things have been resolved properly?"
3:06
and then demonstrate to the client
3:09
that you're going to avoid a repetition of this situation.
3:11
Learn from what's happened and correct the problems
3:14
so that it's not going to happen again.
3:18
Now, most of the time this will sort things.
3:20
Just occasionally, it doesn't.
3:23
There are really things have gotten very badly wrong.
3:27
Now, there are lots of options available to you here
3:31
but the one that I tend to prefer and I tend to use
3:35
is I essentially reboot the project.
3:38
I will say to the client, "Okay. Look.
3:41
This we've just gotten off the rails really badly here.
3:43
Let's go back to basics. Let's start again and begin the project again."
3:46
And often, although that screws your profit margins,
3:50
it will fix the project.
3:53
And, sometimes it's better to go back to the very beginning
3:56
than it is to put plasters on the problems to try and cover up the issue.
3:58
Starting afresh is often the best way to go.
4:04
Failing all of that, walk away. Know when to walk away.
4:08
The point comes with some clients where you just have to go--
4:13
"Look, we're not the right fit for one another.
4:16
It's not happening for whatever reason
4:19
and it's time to go our separate ways."
4:21
I think that should be a last resort but is there for you.
4:24
Don't rush in to that option
4:27
but know when to do it when it comes to it.
4:29
You need to sign up for Treehouse in order to download course files.
Sign up