Have you ever been in a very uncomfortable situation with a client and not know how to handle it? In this episode, I'll explain to you how to handle difficult clients so that you can create calm more quickly. This will help you in the future especially as you're starting to grow and scale your business, all based on personal experience. Are you ready to handle some conflict consciously? Let's go.

Situations happen out of the blue. You’re minding your own business and something can happen to put you in a tailspin to make you anxious. When that happens you need someone to be there to listen to you.

If you’re a coach or you’re in business it’s likely you’ll experience someone attacking you at some point. People get frustrated and they blow up at you. Everyone gets emotional and everyone handles situations differently. Something may have happened to you in the past and because of an event with a client, you find it difficult to move your business forward.

I’ve had situations when I wasn’t emotionally strong. I looked at the situation in a certain way; it was devastating to me and it stopped my business growing. 

You may have already dealt with situations in your business that made you feel uncomfortable and you want to know why they happened? And as your business grows, more situations are going to come up. It’s important to know how you can deal with them differently. It’s Not About You Everybody responds to situations differently. You could work with a client for a long period of time and then one thing triggers them; they start to act in a certain way and you’re completely blindsided by it.

You take them on and you think they’re really kind, they start your program and suddenly they are angry, maybe even nasty and manipulative. You wonder what’s going on? Sometimes it’s not about you. It’s nothing to do with what you said and it’s got nothing to do with your program or process. They have other things happening in their life, they become triggered and it’s the final straw. You’re just in their firing line.

It’s like when you’re in a relationship and you’re blowing up about the toilet roll or the messy kitchen, it’s really nothing do with that. It’s about the issues that haven’t been expressed. Get Conversations Flowing A client attacking is in direct relation to the things they feel, but they don’t talk about. That’s why it’s very important, especially when bringing clients that you make it clear you need to have authentic, transparent communication; that may be a new concept for some people.

Most of the time when you’re attacked it can come from nowhere. Being attacked can come as a complete surprise when nothing has been verbalized leading up to the attack. If issues were raised, but you didn’t deal with them maybe you do need to take responsibility. It’s not fair for them to attack but it is fair for them to speak to you about it calmly. You have to hold strong boundaries when someone comes at you with negative energy, language, or actions. I know a lot of coaches and consultants avoid difficult conversations and they let things pass because of their attachment to money – you’ve signed the deal, and because the client is paying you you let things go.

If you allow yourself to be attacked, it’s going to affect your relationship with your client and it’s going to affect your ability to want to help them. Your feelings about the situation will also affect your business and personal relationships.

Do you avoid difficult conversations? I love to dive into difficult conversations, especially when my clients want to avoid them. I hold my clients accountable in situations they feel uncomfortable in and typically avoid – people have a habit of bailing from situations they don’t want to be in when it’s difficult.

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