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How do you deal with a client who is enthusiastic, but busy, and is therefore a very poor communicator.
Hi folks
Just looking for some tips if anyone has been in a similar position.
I’ve had on off meetings with a client in the construction industry. He’s a really nice guy with a successful small business, and from what I can tell he has achieved all current deals through traditional sales techniques. He is a very personable and likeable guy so I can see how this has been successful.
Now he wants to take his business to the next level with social media, but he really doesn’t understand it at all. We’ve had about 6 meetings and we keep going round in circles as he’s not absorbing anything, or linking me in with someone more in tune within his business.
At first I proposed a long term consulting agreement, which seemed great at first but he hasn’t implemented anything we have spoken about. I now know that he wants someone to just manage the channels and drive business, after thinking he wanted to learn or put me in touch with another employee, it’s clear he has no time, and this is cool.
However, I don’t know how I can manage channels for someone that is such a bad communicator, I need to learn about his business to make the right choices and I just can’t get moving. Anytime I think I’m getting somewhere, comms go cold and I eventually get a response a month later saying ”hi can we have a meeting” and we just go over all the same stuff.
Payment has never been a problem, and I’d like to make things work, but it’s so incredibly frustrating and tough not to come across rude. Things just go round and round and round. The thought of trying to get the FB pixel coded into the website seems like an almost impossible task.
I’m relatively experienced in the field, but I’ve never encountered such a nice client that is equally so hard to work with, any advice would be great! I could easily bleed him dry, but I do not want to do this.
Thanks!
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9 Replies
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byu/JonODonovan insocialmedia -
I understand how frustrating it can be dealing with clients who are bad communicators and all over the place. Based on my experience, writing a clear to-do-list and giving the client deadlines to do them might help in the long run. You said that he hasn’t implemented anything you told him to do and you want to learn more about his business. Maybe you can write down some tasks that you want him to do and when you want him to do them in a shared Google Doc. Can be something as simple as:
May 30th: 1. Send company profile 2. Send goals and KPI.
June 12th: 1. Make an Instagram business profileSomething like that, depending on your needs. You can also add your goals in the same doc so he knows what you’re doing and why you need him to do things before the deadline.
Hope this helps and good luck! -
I’ve had a client like that. Super nice, super enthusiastic during meetings but a nightmare to deal with to keep things moving. This is one experience so take it with a grain of salt but I’ve personally tried every approach I could think of this and it’s not changed anything.
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Sounds like almost all of my clients. Most business owners are always very busy and multi-taskers who don’t like to be pinned down I’ve learned.
Find which way they like to communicate the most, phone call, text, email etc. Then use that method – that can help to get that pixel code etc. I’ve been doing that for years and it’s not easy!
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There’s 2 things here:
1) On your end, you shouldn’t be allowing meetings to go in circles. Dumb down the proposal. Ask simple questions that can be answered by “Yes” or “No”. Decide clearly what the first step is and go from there. If it means less money / smaller project then just do that and get out.
2) On his end, there is no way to change people. All you can do is simplify things and make this as easy for him as possible. He may still annoy you and he may take too long to return your calls (which btw this guy sounds like a “quick phone call” type guy rather than a “series of emails” type guy). But just understanding that this dude is different and you’ll have to meet him half way in terms of communication.
You can always take this as a learning opportunity. Dealing with various personality types is a part of successful consulting and sales. I totally get it though.. it can be exhausting working with these types.
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It would be useful to be straightforward and have a plan: what to accomplish, setting goals and next steps after the meeting. Explain how important it is to move fast and do things very soon.
Set clear milestones and steps of action, not just discussing again what could be done. You could also hint in a very polite way that it’s been a while without much progress and that you can really help him achieve his goals.
Also, congrats for keeping your integrity&values and not taking advantage of him.
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That client really sounds hard to deal with although initially, he isn’t. Maybe he needs to be aware of the opportunities he is missing out on taking a lenient approach for the business he consults with you. If you ever make him think about it, his approach might change. We also think some things must be realised the hard way.
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Have you discussed expectations of each other, what he actually wants you to do and how much he wants to do himself? This could be where the disconnect is coming. Are you on the same page?
I’ve worked with construction guys. They’re GREAT at building things but when it comes to admin and paper, they don’t give a f. I can’t imagine getting many of them to do or want to do social media stuff or advertising. They have completely different brains and this is likely why you aren’t connecting. Plus he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know so you really need to lead hard with these industries.
I’d suggest:
1. Have a talk about expectations
2. YOU need to start directing everything. Get info. Implement.It sounds like he wants someone to do all of it which I would expect from someone in that type of job. Also decide if it’s not a good fit if he needs more than your services offer.
I love these types of people to work with. Construction guys = AMAZING!
You just do it for them and they’re usually so stoked and appreciative and think you worked total magic.. just like they can pop up a house or magically repair something in seconds.
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Your client sounds like me. What I like is a straightforward approach, goals spelled out, long term plan, and monthly reports sent with results. Then, I let the person roll with it so I can move on to what I need to do. Where communication generally breaks down is at the point where someone can’t explain to me what they actually do and how it will generate sales.
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