Four Ways to Resolve Client Conflicts
May 08, 2008
As Journalist Charles Anderson Dana once wrote, "Fight for your opinions, but do not believe that they contain the whole truth or the only truth."
By Jeff Schmitt
You have a dispute on your hands: On one side, a marketer wants to use previously-earned credits to place an ad. On the other, the publisher claims the credits had expired. There's no contract, just a verbal agreement and years of goodwill.
At first, the publisher submits proposals re-activating the credits—but only if the marketer agrees to a broader, more expensive campaign. The advertiser agrees to expand advertising, but refuses to add channels that offer questionable ROI. Each side views their offer as fair and refuses to budge. Each side feels the other is bullying them into a corner. In the end, passive aggressive quips degenerate into testy exchanges. The advertiser walks away and pursues alternative outlets. It's a lose-lose for both parties.
How can a situation like this be avoided? Here are some steps:
1. Prepare. Have a plan before you meet. Holding pre-meetings between underlings on both sides to establish common ground can help you gather intelligence and develop a strategy. Make sure you convey this information to every team member so that each understands the history involved, the positions held by the other party, and what would appeal to them. Identify the underlying politics, such as a sales team's desire to maximize commission. Above all, make sure your positions are grounded in your organization's best interests, not ego.
2. Don't Provoke. In a "he said, she said" situation, avoid provoking the other side. Don't insist your position is right, lay blame or repeat past arguments. It will simply enflame the other party initially and harden them later. This is not litigation—where one party wins and the other pays. Here, points are scored by building consensus and softening points of contention.
3. Honor Commitments. Position the meeting as an opportunity to clarify what the commitments are. Allow your client to outline their expectations—and how they arrived at them in the first place. Similarly, use this time to identify areas where you could have performed better, communicated more clearly or been more proactive or accommodating.
4. Offer Real Solutions. Don't waste time presenting solutions based on self-interest. Instead, float options that could be construed as palatable and long-term ends by both parties. Always look for ways to give the other side those proverbial "wins" that build rapport and momentum. Remember, you are looking to solve a problem and maintain the relationship. Don't get greedy. Worry about building the relationship—or improving its terms—at a later time.
Jeff Schmitt has spent 15 years in marketing, consultative sales, project management, client relations, training and editing. His e-mail is jschmittdbq@mchsi.com.
This article originally appeared in The Tri-State Business Times, a monthly business magazine published by Woodward Communications (www.wcinet.com). It has been edited for length and style.
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