How to manage unhappy clients

Clients who are dissatisfied, outraged or plain angry will turn up throughout your career.  Learning how to manage them is a good investment of time.

“Your most unhappy clients are your greatest source of learning.”

Bill Gates

Beyond the impasse

The client is always right. Unless they’re not and persist in this belief. Here are three ways to manage difficult client situations when you’ve reached an impasse.

Keep building trust

Your role is to advise and your obligation is to do your best to provide the best advice.  

But when your client is telling you that your best isn’t good enough it could mean there is something you haven’t understood about her situation.  Any response you give, therefore, will miss the mark.

A response which starts “I understand, but the law says…”  suggests you haven’t heard what’s been said. In the eyes of your client you’re siding with the opponent.

The client needs to be confident that you’re on her side, even when the law is against her.  “Yes, you’re right, the law doesn’t help us” is a way of communicating that you’re on your client’s side and together you’re going to find a resolution.

Apologise gracefully

Regardless of the legitimacy of your client’s complaint, it takes very little to apologise for perceived shortcomings in service delivery.  All of us can do better when it comes to service delivery.

If your client communicates dissatisfaction with the level of service you’re providing, first ask your Clerk or Practice Manager for a view and then tackle the situation with your client in person.

A graceful apology is as elegant as “I’m sorry you’re unhappy with the way things are going.  What can I do to resolve this?”

This type of response puts the onus onto your client to explain what a good solution looks like for her.

Find a solution

Once you’ve demonstrated that you understand the problem, your job is to work with your client to find a solution.  

Problems are not always soluble in their entirety, but you can ‘chunk’ the problem so that at least part of it is addressed swiftly.

For example, if your client is frustrated by the slow progress of the matter, that you’re unavailable or you haven’t explained things properly, try this.

Suggest a regular 15-minute call to update her on progress, so that at least one of the problems – your perceived unavailability – is addressed.

How the medical profession deals with unhappy ‘clients’

If you’ve seen your GP recently, you may have noticed a shift in doctor-patient communications. 

“What do you think is going on?” is a different type of communication which encourages patients to take responsibility for their diagnosis and subsequent treatment.   

Encouraging your client to take ownership shifts the power balance in the relationship. This approach will position you as a barrister who wants to collaborate, which is what clients, generally, want.

Help to create a superior client service

In Junior Entrepreneur in Module 5, we guide you through the steps to create an outstanding client experience before, during and after a matter.

If you’re a barrister who is actively growing a practice at the Junior Bar you can register today to learn proven methods to raise your profile, connect with clients and grow your practice.

By Heidi Smith
Creator of Jurilogical.com