How to handle difficult clients without damaging the relationship

Managing client demands and expectations can become a tricky task to juggle, especially when presented with a difficult account. You might have a client who pushes boundaries by calling outside of working hours during peak tax season. Perhaps one that unknowingly dilutes their bookkeeping organisation and expects you to fix it with a quick turnaround. You might have a client who isn’t respectful of your team in the most professional way they could be. The best way to handle these clients without damaging the relationship takes tact, communication, and proper boundary setting.

Jump to:

• Identify the root cause
• Listen intently, respond carefully
• Stick to solid boundaries
• Know when to break professional ties

Unrealistic expectations, unclear communication practices, high-stress situations, or a mismatch of personalities are all factors to consider when encountering a difficult client. The good news is that all of these factors are fixable. The goal is to ensure your client feels heard, and collaborate on a mutual path forward that benefits both your client and your accounting firm. We’ve come up with a guide on how to handle difficult clients with care and upkeep a high-standard of professionalism so as to not damage a longstanding partnership.

Identify the root cause

Being able to discern the difference between common client concerns and a client who is pushing the boundaries of the agreed scope is a skill within itself. Assess what the motivating factor is for these clients who are demanding more of your time and identify the root cause as to why these difficult moments keep reappearing. Some examples of these could be:

• The anxious client - one that reaches out frantically during peak tax season, repeatedly emails or calls, has strong demands for quick turnaround times, or needs constant reassurance
• The scope creep client - accounts that end up adding on more than what they’re paying for can cause burnout from accountants at a rapid rate
• The questioning client - questions are always welcome and it’s important that your clients have the information that they need. However If you find that certain clients are sending multiple emails or sending questions one-by-one, it would be helpful to graduate communication to a call to cover all of their questions at the same time
• The disappearing client - they might not respond for weeks and then expect a quick turnaround when they finally get back to you with a mountain of work
• The aggressive client - disrespectful or abusive behaviour should never be tolerated and this client can create risk for your firm. Protecting your team from aggressive behaviour is paramount so handle clients like these respectfully and swiftly.

Listen intently, respond carefully

It’s important to take the time to actively listen and give your client the space to speak about what has been frustrating them or to ask any questions they may have. 

Emails are often a convenient yet hard to interpret mode of communication, especially when it comes to tone of voice. If you receive an inflammatory email, sometimes graduating communication channels to a quick phone call or video catch-up can diffuse flare-ups more effectively and quickly. Offer understanding and empathy when dealing with feedback, and be ready to respond carefully with well-thought-out reasons for why a mix-up may have occurred. Take the feedback on board and look at ways you can change processes, workflows and tech stacks etc. if the issue was in fact your firm’s error. Be prepared to offer accountability when needed, but also use this as an opportunity to clarify decisions and back-up your firm’s reasoning with real evidence as to why you chose to handle their account in the specific way you did.

Stick to solid boundaries

Maintaining solid boundaries with all clients will lead to clearer communication and expectations. These boundaries can become part of the scope of work within your client contract as part of managing their portfolio. Some impactful boundaries to set early could be:

• Clearly state what your working hours are and what times you will be able to be reached including (and especially) during tax peak season, including turnaround time expectations for a response.
• Communicate to your client how they are able to reach you and which member of staff is most relevant to their queries. If a senior staff is better to field their questions, let juniors know they can delegate requests to higher up team members. Some firms prefer online chat channels while others encourage phone calls or email. Whatever works best for your firm is how your client should be communicating with you and they need to know up front just how to do that
• Be firm on what language and attitudes will be tolerated if a client pushes back in an aggressive or disrespectful manner. 
• If your client adds scope without a previous discussion, flag this issue as soon as possible and inform them of any additional fees for the extra work. All tasks should be added to the statement of work and clearly defined at the start of the professional relationship to avoid any grey area when it comes to scope creep.

Know when to break professional ties

Some clients are not a good fit for your firm or you may not be the right firm for a particular client, which can be a challenging realisation. It might be hard to cut ties with a long-standing client, but it would be harder to carry on with someone who isn’t the best fit with the services provided. 

If a client consistently pushes boundaries, challenges your ethics, is disruptive or rude to your team, or delivers a disproportionate amount of stress for the fees they are charged, then it might be time to assess if the partnership is still viable. Experts believe accountants should do a check-in with their clients and break ties with one-third of them each year. While this might seem like a large amount, the principle remains. Any clients who are pulling from valuable resources without compensation could be costing you more lucrative opportunities. Handle the situation with care, give your client plenty of notice, and make sure you keep everything in writing. 

The key is to have a strong foundation of communication, boundary setting, and active listening to ensure you can push past any issues that may arise and create a long-lasting partnership built upon mutual respect.