Not too long ago I received an email from a friend asking how to handle the situation when a client seems ungrateful and unhappy with the results of their case.
If it hasn't happened to you yet, it will.
Sooner or later, you'll have a client who isn't happy with what happened in their case. Even if you go above and beyond the call of duty while working on their case, and even if you get exemplary results for them, they can still be unhappy and unsatisfied with what you did. When that happens, you've got an unhappy, unsatisfied client on your hands.
That can feel unfair.
After all, if you worked exceptionally hard on their case, you might think they're being ungrateful and nasty.
How do you handle it?
Here's what I wrote back to him. Hopefully the response will be helpful to you, too:
Set realistic expectations. First, I think you need to work on setting expectations for your clients. For example, I've moved to a niche practice of handling DUI cases, so one of the first things I need to do when meeting with someone is to set realistic expectations. Everyone wants their case to "go away," but that's not realistic. If you let them continue to think that if they hire you then all of their problems will go away, you're setting them up for disappointment, and no matter how good a job you do for them, you won't make them happy if they don't get the (impossible) result.
Define acceptable, unacceptable, and exceptional outcomes. Invest some time with clients to have them tell you acceptable and unacceptable resolutions of the case, as well as how'd they define an "exceptional" resolution. For example, with the DUI's, some people might view an acceptable resolution as a no-jail offer, and that a non-DUI resolution like a Reckless Driving plea offer would be exceptional. Other might consider that same Reckless Driving offer to be a barely "acceptable" resolution, and feel that only a complete dismissal of the charges would qualify as an "exceptional" resolution.
Hire slowly, fire quickly. If you don't know what your potential clients expect, you won't be able to manage the expectations. That's why it's critical to talk with them before you accept them as clients, so that you can cut loose those potential clients with unacceptable expectations. Hiring is a two-way street, and you shouldn't feel obligated to accept every client who manages to find their way through your front door. (Trust me - If you have a client with unrealistic expectations or someone who's unbearable to deal with, it will never matter how much money they pay you, you will regret accepting the client).
By managing their expectations, you'll limit the number of negative responses. Even so, you can't control every aspect of the case, and there will be times when clients are disappointed.
When that happens, you need to evaluate what happened and what you did.
Accept responsibility if you were wrong. If you didn't do a good job, then yes, they're right to be disappointed with how things went. You should be, too. Immediately resolve to never let it happen again, and then fix the problem (whether it's lack of skills, lack of information, or some other problem) as quickly as possible.
But let's assume that you did do a good job.
Dismiss the outliers. You can't beat yourself up over a few negative comments. In the Olympics, they throw out the top and bottom scores. You should do the same. Some people just like to gripe. (That's one reason why they get involved in lawsuits, right?) You'll rarely hear from the people who think you did a good or great job, so the comments that you get from unhappy clients are disproportional to your actual results.
But that doesn't mean you should just ignore a negative comment.
Look for patterns. If you are consistently hearing the same types of complaints, then there is a problem, and you need to fix it. If lots of clients are saying you don't return phone calls or something similar, then there's a problem there, and you should pay attention to what they say.
Source; www.TrialTheater.com
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