Happy Friday, everyone!
Here is this week’s poll question:
Have you ever had to deal with an abusive client? If so, how did you respond to him/her?
Looking forward to reading your answers!
I had an advertiser who called me every night when he heard something that he didn't like. He finally started calling my cell phone at night when no one at the station would answer his calls, since he was so mean on the phone. The owner would tell us that he didn't want to invest his money in a place that wasn't 100% in line with his views. I finally called him and dropped him. He has called a few times since (1 year ago) and requested to come back on. He thinks we are more "in line with his views" at this time. All of our sales staff knows, as tempting as it may be, he is not allowed back on.
If a client (or vendor) is abusive....we'll drop them. If they are on my list, I may allow a few more "temper tantrums". If it is one of my staff, I will not let the abuse go at all. In both cases, they will be dropped. Managers, don't forget that workplace abuse can also be the result of clients and/or vendors having a bad day. Nip it in the bud, quickly.
Walk away. Quickly. I once called on an abusive client with one of my sales reps, presented the abuser with a cheque for every dime he had spent on the station and gave him a polite resignation letter. Essentially, I said, "Notwithstanding the fact that we successfully deliver results to scores of businesses much like yours, it is clear that we are unable to meet your expectations. Accordingly, we are returning your investment with our Company and wish you good luck with your future advertising campaigns."
Know something? It felt good. And guess what... the now resigned client was in jaw-dropping mode... but managed to find words to this effect... "Well, I hadn't expected this. I have to admit, that was a classy move".
He cashed the cheque, but went out of business about 7-8 months later.
Love this! Gotta love that karma. I have done something similar to this just once in my career and it felt GREAT!
I sometimes think I would be better off if instead of announcing "I'm from the radio station." I just walked in and announced, "I have leprosy."
They may be having a bad day or they may be tired of radio reps who don't know what they are doing. So I walk away,. Some months later I will turn the client over to another rep. If I had a conflict of personalities the new rep may get a buy. If the client really is a jerk then getting the new rep yelled at will at least prove that the problem was not on me.
I agree with the rest of the bunch...life it too short to deal with those people. Then I weigh it between their dollar worth to me and my self-worth. Self-worth has always won out.
I work my butt off to make their competitor famous.
On "Black Friday," I was flying the station traffic helicopter over a local shopping mall, who was a major buyer. I reported the mall's parking lot as being completely filled, which it was. Even the local police were preventing people from entering. That afternoon, the buyer, furious, called the sales rep and cancelled their contract with our #1 station, which served almost 1/3 of all listeners in Central New York state. The GM called the GSM, the rep and me into a meeting on Monday. "I called it as I saw it," I said. Two days later, the GSM, the rep and I went to meet with the client. "We cannot, under any circumstances, mis-report or even shade anything when we're reporting. We'll lose credibility with our audience, and where are we then?" the GSM asked. The client ranted for a few minutes; the GSM then terminated the meeting.
By Wednesday AM drive, he was back on the air. I'm just sayin'...
