Upset Client? Remember, There’s Always a Higher Power
If you can believe it, I’ve dealt with an upset client or two in my day. Sometimes it was warranted, sometimes it was not.
In the agency world, we tend to follow the “the client is always right” mantra, even if there is data or evidence pointing to the contrary. It can be frustrating to listen to a client vent about something that has been discussed many times before. It can be difficult to keep your mouth shut when you know for a fact what they are saying is unreasonable or unfair. In these situations, it’s important to remember two things.
It is always a good idea to listen and to keep an open mind. You should consider the possibility that you and your team are not perfect and that you may have fucked up. If you did indeed fuck up, acknowledge, address, and adjust for the future.
If you’ve assessed the situation and the anger is (subjectively) not warranted, there is likely something else going on.
Most of the time when anger or frustration pops up, we have a tendency to get defensive.
“She’s being so unfair.”
“He’s being such an asshole.”
“They are just being difficult.”
It’s easy to take it all at face value. It’s easy to reciprocate anger and frustration, especially if you feel like you are personally being attacked or blamed. However, in most situations there is likely something more going on. Unpacking the “more” will help you to remain calm, to better understand the client’s needs and frustrations, and to effectively address current (and future) issues.
The Higher Power
There are a plethora of reasons a client might be angry or frustrated. We won’t be able to unpack them all here - I once had a client get mad at me because Google released a new algorithm, and that’s certainly not one I would have guessed. But assuming you’ve checked off your boxes, buttoned up your processes, and confirmed appropriate delivery of services, it’s likely they are upset for another reason.
Everyone you work with has someone they are accountable to. Marketing teams usually answer to a CMO who answers to a CEO who answers to a board. If pressure is being applied to any rung of that ladder, the pressure will push downward. If the organization has built lofty goals and you are in any way accountable to those goals or a portion of those goals, you can (and should) feel some of that pressure as well.
Sometimes, the more pressure that is applied, the more the client feels compelled to push in all the wrong ways. Whether it be out of frustration (not getting results as fast as they hoped) or fear (afraid they won’t reach goals and get fired/earn less money), the tendency can be to project those feelings on to you and your team. This is their livelihood. They want to look good in front of their team, to produce results for the organization, and to be commended for a job well done.
When that success is in the hands of an agency meant to produce the results, the client may have no choice but to push their own or their team’s anxiety, anger, and frustration on to you.
Why Staying Calm Is So Important
The only way to weather the storm is to empathize and sympathize. Be understanding. Let them vent and make them know they’ve been heard. Staying calm will de-escalate the situation so you can find out the root cause of the frustration.
Most importantly, ask questions. Find out what the real issue is.
Is it our work or our results?
Is it the perception of our work or our results?
Is there something specific that triggered the frustration?
Is it poor communication?
Are there other internal goals we don’t know about in which you are being held accountable?
Is there any information we can provide that will help alleviate your stress?
Keep asking questions until you have a solid understanding of what is driving their frustration, then offer up solutions. It might be as simple as re-adjusting your current processes or cadence. It might be as complicated as escalating to your own higher power. Either way, having a better understanding of what is driving their emotions will help you to better cater to their needs and bring the situation to to a more manageable level.
Be Careful of the Over-servicing Trap
While it is simply better for everyone to keep your client happy and frustration-free, this should never come at the expense of resourcing. Too often do we overcompensate for an angry client by throwing everything and everyone at an account to make them happy.
If you fucked up on scoping or delivery, you may have to pay the price (work a few extra hours, provide some value-add, speed up the next delivery date, etc.)
If you are confident outside factors beyond your control were primarily to blame, you should identify the primary reason the frustration occurred and address with your team. Ensure you are alleviating stress by pivoting and adjusting. This might be changing your communication cadence, providing information in a way that matches client expectations, or including an additional team member on the next handful of calls for support.
If you do have to throw additional resources at a project to make it successful, ensure there is a finite timeline and expectations are set. The more you wildly throw resources at an account to make a client happy, the more they are going to expect it moving forward.
Building Your Toolkit of Understanding
The only way to get better at dealing with upset clients and to build up your toolkit of understanding is by having more at bats. Of course, the goal isn’t to increase the number of upset clients to get better at addressing them. The goal is to address as it happens and fully engage in the moment. Stay calm, ask questions, and find the root issue. Pivot and adjust as needed, be open and honest in your communication with the client, and don’t over-service.
You’ll have a happy client in no time.
