Handling Difficult Clients

When someone comes across an annoying person, he has the option to take the sidewalk. But a financial advisor doesn't have this option. Your bread and butter is dependent on clients and sidelining the source of your daily bread can be hazardous.

All of you must have dealt with Difficult Clients. Clients worry because it is their hard earned money that is in consideration, but sometimes it becomes an obsession and they start micromanaging & nitpicking. They would nag you all the time, keep on calling for a petty thing over and over again, never appreciate, don't trust you, and when you see their number on your mobile, you hold your breath, pick the call and with a heavy heart, eject a puny 'Hello'. Though you would want to not talk to him ever, but you have to curb your wish and be patient. Following are some tips to help you tackle your difficult clients:

Understand the reason: Try to ascertain the reason behind your client's harassing behaviour. It can be because it is in their nature, or they are successful in their own business or job and they believe their business tactics will work in their personal financial planning as well, or they or their family member have had a bad investment experience in the past. Ramesh, a financial advisor has a client Sharda, who was always anxious, badgered him constantly with questions, called him for every petty thing. Ramesh dug deep down and found out her father lost everything in stock markets when she was in high school and they had to borrow money from her aunt for bringing in food in the house, she had to drop school since they could not pay her fee, this instance had created a spell on her, which scared at every fall or rise in the market, even when she was holding a debt portfolio. He played the role of a psychologist here, it was easier for him to mould Sharda's ideology, and has her as a loyal and normal client now.

Make things clear in the beginning: Set the roles, responsibilities, expectations, performance parameters, terms of fee payment, etc., at the beginning. Record everything on paper or send a snapshot of the terms concluded from your discussion on mail or a message to your client. Make it a habit to document the outcomes of your meetings with the client. So, whenever there is a clash, you will have a proof to justify yourself and your actions. This will help you in maintaining a cordial and organised relationship with your client.

Ignore: There are people who would not appreciate your efforts and would emit ill words when their portfolios don't perform. In such situations, the power of willful ignorance will come to your rescue. Don't let rude statements offend you, rather try to understand your client's reason and take the conversation towards devising a solution than dragging the problem.

Keep in touch: Meet your client regularly, even if he is a difficult client. Communicate any new investment products, change in the markets which can lead to changes required in his portfolio, etc., timely. Effective and timely communication can help you solve problems before they arise. Be there for your client in tough times, follow up always.

Don't ignore his problems: When you get a call from a discontented client, the instant solution that comes to your mind is not answer or cut the call. But this is not a solution, rather this will aggravate the problem. You should talk to your client, fix a meeting, discuss his problems and come up with a solution. Your prompt response, positive attitude, facing up and dealing up with the problem will build the client's confidence in you.

Set Limits: Sometimes you have to set some limits for some people. If you have a client who is calling you for a problem over and over again, which is not material or has already been solved, then it is best to not let the client barge into your space and set boundaries for him. You may probably adopt the earlier approach of not answering calls in such cases or you may communicate to him that you may not be able to help further in his case.

Ditch some: After all your efforts, if a client is making your life miserable, it is best to move on. Though in our business, a customer should not be ditched, yet in some cases you have to end this relationship. However this is the last resort, and should be practiced only when you have exhausted all of the above courses of actions.

So, the bottomline is whenever you encounter a difficult client, do not panic, take a deep breath and consider applying the above points in his case. You still have the opportunity to make them happy. Remember, “It takes months to find a customer and only seconds to lose one”.