Do you dread difficult client conversations? 

Does potential client conflict have you questioning entrepreneurship?

Today we’re discussing ways to deal with difficult people. 

Or is it just difficult situations we find ourselves in with great people?

Former client-coordinator and ReWork Director of Development, Jessica Mackey, shares four life-saving hacks for dealing with less-than-ideal situations. Life-saving phrases and words that work every single time. 

Grab a pen and take some notes. 

Jessica is sharing words and phrases that we use at Allison Tyler Jones Photography every day which will help you with your own dicey convos. 

Once you put these hacks into practice, you’ll no longer dread the phone calls, or freak out about a nasty text from a client. 

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

• Buy time to collect yourself and find a solution
• Validate a client’s feelings and situation
• Respond in a way that puts the client at ease
• Implement the “What I can do” method

 

Here’s a glance at this episode:

• [2:02] - Sometimes it’s great clients, but just difficult situations.
• [3:32] - The first hack is the buy time. You are in panic mode and will come across defensive.
• [5:10] - Jessica and Allison describe some ways you can buy time.
• [6:02] - The second hack is to not justify or defend. It’s to validate what the client is saying.
• [7:10] - Allison and Jessica give an example with a role play.
• [8:39] - It helps to let the client know that it hasn’t happened before and it’s not what they should expect.
• [10:07] - When your products are priced appropriately, there’s wiggle room to handle possible problems.
• [11:29] - When a client calls with a problem, you can respond in one of two ways.
• [13:54] - At ATJ Photography, they take the route of these situations as the end of the world.
• [15:53] - This strategy helps in other parts of your life as well. Avoid minimizing someone else’s feelings.
• [19:31] - The fourth hack is that there’s always something you can do.
• [20:38] - In these situations, you are giving clients a solution.
• [22:15] - There are times when clients may have unreasonable requests.
• [23:50] - There are tactful ways to validate an unreasonable request and tell the client that it’s impossible at the same time.
• [25:12] - Coming out of the pandemic, most people are a little more fragile and what previously wouldn’t have been upsetting might land differently.
• [26:34] - In these situations, we go into fight, flight, or freeze. Allison gives examples of what you might say in these scenarios if you don’t buy time.
• [28:20] - Clients aren’t calling with a problem to get something for free. They want the problem solved.
• [30:15] - You can’t solve problems when you make assumptions.

 

Links and Resources:

Do The ReWork
Website | Instagram

Allison Tyler Jones
Website | Instagram | LinkedIn