Dealing With Difficult Clients - Professional Advice For Professional Assistants!

Do you get clients that are particularly rude towards you? Do you get e-mails or phone calls where they start complaining about something, yet you know that it's not your fault?

I am 99% sure that this has happened to you at some point in your life. You get a client call or e-mail you and complains about something. Somewhere down the line, they start to personally attack you and you feel as if you are in a state of shock, knowing that you personally didn't do anything wrong. The sad part is that there will always be someone that will try to make your life miserable, but that all depends on how you take it in.

Remember that you can always diffuse a situation like this. Here are some things you can do to take care of yourself and not get in hot water:

• Keep a professional demeanour - Never get personal with the client. Always keep your cool and explain to them step-by-step of how you will handle the situation. The more professional you act, the more control you have over the situation.
• Keep all correspondence via e-mail (if possible) - This will help you cover yourself if something happens. You can present any evidence that you and the client conversed about, so that you won't get in trouble. If you are having a phone conversation, jot down details of everything that happened, along with the date and time of the call.
• The situation starts to escalate - Explain to the client that you will ask your supervisor/manager to intervene, as this issue is outside of your authority. You can also talk to your HR representative if you feel that the client has violated your rights as an employee.
• If you run your own business - Consider dropping the client all together. You need to ask yourself if the client is worth keeping. I know that this can be a difficult decision, as if they bring in a lot of money, it could be your bread and butter that you are throwing away. But then at the same time, are you really happy with keeping this client? Will this client make other areas of your business suffer?
• Keep a positive attitude - No matter how ugly things get, remember to keep a positive attitude. You can never control someone else, but you can always control your own emotions! Remind yourself that it's just a small blip in your regular work day and things will get better.

For further reading, check out the post entitled "7 Ways to Great Customer Service".

Do you have any more thoughts that you would like to add to this? Leave a comment and let us know.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!


Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips