Everyone dreads having difficult conversations with clients, especially you’re most valuable clients. The fear of saying the wrong thing is so strong that many attorneys choose to avoid difficult conversations but doing so is risky. Conflicts left unresolved often simmer until they boil over into outright conflict. If you want to avoid a full scale client meltdown, it’s best to have those difficult conversations before things get heated. Below are a few tips on how to have difficult conversation with clients while maintaining and improving good client relationships.
Identify The Problem
Before you jump head first into a difficult conversation, identify the root problem. What is the cause of your conflict with a client? Identifying the problem will help you keep focus and avoid being sidetracked or distracted by irrelevant issues during your discussion.
Have A Vision
How do you see the difficult conversation ending? Do you hope to come to a full resolution? Do you just want to get clarity on some things? Are you aiming to release the client so that you two can go your separate ways? You need to know how you want this conversation to end so that you do and say those things that will move you closer to your vision.
Show Empathy
You must put yourself in your client’s shoes. What is it that they are feeling? How is their perspective understandable and logical? Don’t get so trapped in your own perspective that you forget that someone else may see things totally different than you. If you want to successfully tackle difficult conversations with clients, empathy will get you a lot closer to developing a win-win solution.
Consider Communication Method
Choose the right communication method. As a rule, you don’t want to have difficult conversations via text or email, there’s just too much that is lost and could be potentially misunderstood. Remember, written communication often loses nuance. If you can, schedule a face-to-face meeting, and if that’s not possible have the conversation over the phone. Be sure to schedule the meeting at a time and place where you won’t be interrupted. Putting your client on hold multiple times can be annoying and may even feel disrespectful.
Listen Closely
Carefully listen to your client’s perspective and avoid interjecting your thoughts until they are completely done. This is difficult to do especially if the client is saying something that isn’t true. Don’t let a client’s misstatements or exaggerations rile you up and cause you to lash out. If you want to capture your thoughts, write them down so that you won’t forget when it’s time for you to speak.
Written Resolution
Whatever agreement you and the client come to, make sure you put it in writing. Sometimes this will mean that you will craft a letter of agreement and other times will mean that you send a brief email off summarizing what you discussed in the conversation.
Having difficult conversations with clients comes with the territory of being an attorney, don’t avoid them and do what’s necessary to help them go smoothly.
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Jeannie Borich is the Marketing Manager at Smokeball, a software company for small law firms. At Smokeball, she assists with event management, content creation, social media, and development of marketing campaigns. She is passionate about technology, digital media, marketing strategy, and helping small firms thrive.