'My Client Is A Jerk': 3 Keys To Transforming Client Relationships Gone Bad

By Charles H. Green, Contributing Editor

Have you ever had a difficult client? I don't mean the client from hell, I just mean garden-variety difficult. Difficult clients come in lots of different flavors.

• There's the client who will not take the time up front to share critical information, explore ideas, or otherwise involve you in the early stages of a project.
  
  
• There's the client who just cannot make a decision, regardless of how much data or analyses you provide at their request.
  
  
• There's the client who is frozen by politics or fear or ignorance, who will not face facts about critical issues.
  
  
• Finally, there's the client with personality issues, who argues, or rejects, or is otherwise disrespectful to you and your team, yet often shows favoritism to someone else or another team.

Fortunately, there is a common thread to all of these cases, which--if we understand it--can help us succeed.

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