Business Education

My Biggest, Most Important Client is #!@_&% — How can I Keep Them and Not Go Crazy

Fill in the blank. Angry, anxious, cheapskate, short-tempered, impatient, annoying, hard-to-please. No one enjoys dealing with difficult business clients, but sometimes we have to. These clients can be demanding, angry, and anxious. They can sap our energy and make us feel like we’re going crazy. But don’t worry – there are strategies for how to deal with them.

Running a Business Means Dealing with Challenges

No one ever said that running a business would be easy. In fact, it can often be downright difficult to deal with the various challenges and situations that come up. Whether you’re struggling to keep afloat or trying to figure out how to take your company to the next level, there are some effective ways to deal with difficult business situations.

Many small business owners have ‘em—you know, the clients who make you cringe when you see that they’re calling. The ones who drain your energy, criticize everything, and are slow to pay. Difficult customers exist in every business, for every company, and even though you may want to kick them to the curb some days, you know that it’s better to keep them if you can. So, how might you keep your difficult clients and your sanity? —American Express

The key attributes are persistence and patience. Entrepreneurs who stay the course but don’t rush into things tend to be the most successful over the long term. They push when necessary and recognize futility for what it is. In other words, they act appropriately to the circumstances they experience and do not try to bend reality.

Best Strategies for Managing Impossible Clients

Dealing with difficult business clients can be a nightmare. They can be demanding, angry, and anxious, and they can really put a damper on your day. However, with the right strategies in place, you can manage them effectively and keep them from ruining your business relationships, like the following:

Keep your cool. One of the most important things to remember when dealing with difficult clients is to stay calm and collected. If you start getting angry or frustrated, it will only make the situation worse. Take a few deep breaths and try to relax. This will help you think more clearly and come up with a plan of action.
Put on their shoes. Another thing to keep in mind is that these clients are just people. They have their own problems, and they’re probably stressed out too. Try to put yourself in their shoes and see things from their point of view. This will help you understand where they’re coming from so you can better address the problem at hand.
Don’t retaliate in anger. If possible, avoid getting into arguments with these clients. You might think this is impossible, but it can be done. Stay calm and collected — even if they’re yelling at you or cussing you out. If necessary, take a break from the situation. Politely end the phone call or meeting and go for walk outside. This will give both parties time to cool down and reset.
Walk the walk, talk the talk. Finally, always try to stay professional. These clients are probably already angry and frustrated, so don’t add to the problem by being rude or unprofessional. Address the issue at hand in a polite and respectful manner. You’ll be surprised how much this can help diffuse the situation.

What other strategies would you use to deal with difficult customers? Please, take a moment to share your thoughts and experiences so others can benefit from your perspective! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.

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Want to Make the New Year a Success? Avoid these People

December 30, 2017 No Comments

The New Year will soon be upon us. And, the majority will make different resolutions. Usually, these are about personal goals — going on a diet, getting in shape, and spending more quality time with family and friends. But many of us will also include a few business goals on our lists. And, there certainly isn’t anything wrong with this. Of course, this comes with its own set of challenges. One of the biggest, is avoiding toxic personalities. Why Avoiding Toxic Personalities is So Difficult Okay, that’s great and it’s also all-too obvious. Who really seeks out toxic personalities? Well, no one does — at least not consciously. But, isn’t it strange how we all seem to attract crazy? Or at the very least, difficult. So, what is so difficult about avoiding bad personalities? The answer is complex. Boil it down to logistics and it becomes more clear. We simply do not have control over who comes into our lives. Unfortunately, not everyone pushes us to be better. Some people stop us from following our dreams or talk us out of taking a risk, and we don’t always realize that it’s happening. So it’s important to be aware and consciously choose who we spend time with, to limit spending time with toxic people —Success.com To an extent, we can avoid known bad personalities. But, even this becomes difficult in the workplace. Sometimes, there is no real choice. You must accept the situation and make the most of it. However that doesn’t mean you don’t have any options at your disposal. Personality Types to Avoid in Order to Succeed The fact of the matter is, you become a product of the company you keep. It is a long-proven phenomenon. That’s precisely why there’s so much advice about surrounding yourself with good people. They’ll have a positive impact on you. As a result, you’ll achieve more and adopt a better outlook on life. As Jim Rohn said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” But, this means there are personality types you need to avoid, like the following: Micromanagers. This personality tops the list because it’s the type no one can stand. Sure, management is a good thing. But, when it’s repeatedly taken to a granular level, it becomes counterproductive. Worse yet, it causes others to become resentful and unmotivated. Learning to solve problems independently is far more valuable. Short-term thinkers. There is nothing wrong with having a short-term game plan to reach a goal. But, it should fit into a larger scheme toward an ultimate goal. Short-term thinking is good for the near future but it’s an obstacle to long-term success. Pessimists. Pessimism isn’t always a bad trait. In fact, when it’s useful we call it pragmatism. That’s a good thing because it helps us to avoid unnecessary risk. But a pessimist doesn’t see anything but downside. When this happens, it’s very hard to move forward confidently or at all. Big spenders. Spendthrifts are also a bad influence. They don’t take financial responsibility. And, the results are often bad. Of course, there are times when it’s okay to spend but constantly splurging is just a recipe for ruin. Which other personalities do you avoid? Which personalities are a real asset to entrepreneurs? Please, share your thoughts and experiences by commenting and joining the discussion! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.

Key Ways To Make Your Business More Transparent

April 17, 2018 No Comments

No matter what business you’re in, you want customers to have faith in your ability to meet their needs every time. That’s at the very core of being successful. The key to creating and fostering trust in customers often comes down to transparency. You want your customers to feel as though your business is an open book, and that they’ll always know what to expect from you. Transparency is something that’s both simple and complicated for businesses to achieve. It’s simple because it’s a matter of living up to the expectations customers have for your business. Yet it’s also complicated because it involves helping to set those expectations that customers have in the first place. Building a more transparent organization involves creating an internal culture that encourages honesty and transparency as well as building stronger relationships with customers. Transparency begins inside your organization, which means leadership must embrace the concept. You can’t expect your employees to embody transparency with your customers if there isn’t a strong culture to promote transparency internally. An effective way to create that culture of transparency is to encourage your employees to communicate with management as well as with one another. You can do this by establishing an open-door policy and giving employees a platform for expressing their thoughts during meetings. When you communicate with your employees, it can be extremely helpful to be clear with your messaging, avoiding corporate jargon and speaking plainly to your employees. Even if the news is bad, your employees likely will appreciate your honesty and internalize the spirit of transparency in their interactions with customers. Key Ways to Make Your Business More Transparent created by Track Your Truck.

How to Move Past a Bad Business Policy

May 16, 2017 No Comments

You identified a problem, took action, and enacted a new policy. Your people don’t like it (read: hate it), and, now you’re dealing with the fallout. It’s not an enviable position to be in, but nonetheless, here you are and now, you have to take action–again. The advice you’ve long heard about learning from your mistakes is now a reality, and, you are willing and able to accept it. The problem is how to move past a bad business policy and avoid repeating the same mistake in the future. Though you know this one backfired, you can’t be sure of how other policies you enact moving forward will impact your team and your business at-large. It’s okay to be retrospective and to attempt to peer around the corner, but for now, what you really need is to make things right. How to Move Past a Bad Business Policy The very fact that you are willing to recognize you made a mistake is a positive sign. However, you might still have a problem to deal with and you don’t want Murphy walking back into your organization, wielding his rule which states, “every solution breeds new problems.” You’ve already seen that unfold and it should have phased you enough to make a change. …we hate to fail. We fear it, we dread it, and when it does happen, we hold onto it. We give it power over our emotions, and sometimes we allow it to dictate our way forward (or backward). Some of us go to great lengths to avoid failure because of all the pain and shame associated with it. —Forbes It’s also good that you’re self-aware enough to accept the blame instead of digging in and defending what you’ve done, which will only insult your team members. So, how do you prevent this from happening again, but, still be able to enact policies that don’t end-up backfiring? Here are some helpful bits of advice you can use: Don’t be afraid to admit you made a mistake. This bears repeating, and, it does so big time. There’s little else more damaging than a leader who won’t admit he or she is wrong. It’s arrogant, harmful, and can cause good people to leave. In fact, the best thing to do is to have a sit down with your employees and others and talk about how you arrived at the decision, why it was wrong, and, how you plan to resolve the situation. Identify the problem and be proactive. Speaking of resolving the situation, you’re inevitably going to face problems again, so, before they have a chance to materialize, do what you can to thwart them. This won’t necessarily be easy, but your intuition will tell you when something is about to become a problem. Get ideas from your team about solutions. Your team members are among your most valuable assets. Don’t go it alone, speak openly with them and listen to their suggestions. You’ll likely find that doing so will present many ideas which can be molded together for a solution. Avoid new policies that create new problems. This is more difficult than you might think, but it’s still possible. Before you do enact a new policy, think about what it will do and how it will be received by your team. If you play it out and identify possible result scenarios, you can usually avoid making another bad policy. In my 34 years of business experience with ownership in 9 different businesses and consulting/coaching with hundreds of business owners, I have a long list of bad business policies that I have made. All of the policies well intended, but many times not fully thought through. My greatest lesson in making policies, is that hiring the right people with the right core values will minimize the policies that seem necessary to police and hold your team accountable. Those employees with the right core values will do what is right almost all of the time, thereby eliminating the need for many policies. [shareaholic app=”follow_buttons” id=”26833294″]