Difficult Clients ~Be Thankful for the Challenge!

“Don’t yell educate, don’t yell educate…”

On this American Thanksgiving of 2009 let’s give thanks for the challenging clients of the past year. No, I’m not kidding…I’m sure we’ve all had clients that make us want to jump up and down and scream at the top of our lungs out of sheer frustration “Don’t you get it?!?”

But we don’t.

Instead, we hunker down, do a great job, and make the best of our predicament. Right? [Ha ha, don't roll your eyes just yet folks...] In the events industry challenge is a good thing ~it’s why we’re in this business! As such, challenging clients should be seen as a positive and NOT a negative [both in the present and retrospectively of course]. As planners and excellent service providers we need to rethink our attitudes and be open to the possibility that “perhaps this highly irrigating individual is actually teaching me something here.”

This blog post is a tribute to all of the hard to deal with, impossible to please, and the world-revolves-around-me clients. I’ve classified them (just for fun) in the hopes that some of you, fabulous industry colleagues, will laugh and just maybe, reflect on your own challenging client situation ~”What am I learning here?”

The Loudmouth:
This client is notorious for interrupting you mid-sentence and overpowering every conversation. His or her emails almost feel like spam after a certain point and in the middle of all the noise you are trying to decipher the critical deliverables and turn chaos into calm. Just remember, slow and steady wins the race…the Loudmouth will listen to you, eventually.

Nervous Nelly:
Nervous Nellys seem to spread their frayed nerves to the rest of their team. The best you can do is ensure excellent execution on your end and do not let to NN vibe affect your very important work. After-all, usually great execution ensures complete transformation of NNs into “No-Longer Nervous Nellys.” Believe it or not, these are the people that often become repeat clients. So do your best to calm those nerves!

Blunt Bobby:
Blunt Bobbys are the people who have no internal dialogue whatsoever. They are hysterical, even though in the moment of their insensitive/rude/or non-PC comment they may seem infuriating. I challenge you to write down all of your BB moments. What was said? Who said it? What can you laugh about in that moment?

Lazy Daisy:
Repetition is key. When dealing with a LD just EXPECT to repeat yourself and repeat yourself over and over again. The laziness prevents retention and therefore your need to constantly repeat yourself…ha ha. Consider this type of client a test of your patience. It is definitely character building, to say the least

The Cheapskate:
Also known as the “tightwad” or a “miser.” Recession or no recession, this person is notoriously cheap no matter what the situation. How to deal with these people? Think of every major religion around the world…One clear and underlying theme is frugality. God [whichever one you happen to believe in] would be proud. So give thanks to the client with a mico-management approach to his or her budget. Maybe if we were more like this person we’d all be a little richer…and a little holier?

Friends, I’d love for you to add to this list. What zany client characters am I missing? Looking forward to turning your negative into a positive…and for giving thanks for those challenges.

Tagged as: a2d2, business, Events, Tips