Purpose Marketing 19 april 2010 Dominic Karatouliotis

Difficult clients - Is it them or is it me?

As a graduate from the PR School of Straight Talking, I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve. I didn’t attend the seminar on Spreading…

I need to believe in what I’m saying for the PR-machine to spin its spidery web. What happens, though, when a client relationship doesn’t click? When you wake up one morning to discover that the magic’s gone – or that it was never there in the first place. When a decent client turns into a difficult client. What do you do when you look across the meeting room and think ‘is it them or is it me?’

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My most difficult clients? Without doubt, these have been clients who I didn’t see entirely eye to eye with from the outset. You know how it goes – you’re in a meeting with Client X discussing the start of a new relationship and the kick-off to a first project. Demands are high and the budget is low. Client X won’t listen to advice and you wonder, in which case, why they are paying you for your professional counsel. Don’t be surprised then, when, three months down the line, there’s simply not enough mutual trust or respect to go round.

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When this happens? Firstly, take it on the chin and acknowledge you did this to yourself. You created a monster. Or, at least, allowed a monster to be created whilst you stood to one side failing to set boundaries and manage expectations. Secondly, vow never again. A difficult Client X can be soul destroying and time wasting. This home-made monster sucks the life-blood from team spirit quicker than a vampire mosquito with a long straw.

When the relationship is strained, the work is too. Which means that being authentic - believing in what you are saying to the benefit of the client – is hard. I don’t want to rely on PR puffery and cheap tricks of the trade to get me through a tricky spot, for that way danger lies. Journalists can smell fake, it’s an animal instinct. Fake damages reputations. All our reputations. And difficult Client X simply isn’t worth it.

There’s no straight path from difficult to delightful and I have often encountered roadblocks along the way. ‘Don’t let them get to you’ is easier said than done. You don’t have to enter the ring and slug it out on the mats; it’s not necessarily about you, so don’t take it personally. Unless, of course, it is personal. Instead, taking the high ground, once you’ve mastered the climb, can be a galvanising route to take. Just don’t slip and fall because Client X probably won’t be there to catch you.

Dominic Karatouliotis

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