How do you deal with difficult customers?

here is the process: simple but not easy: 

LISTEN, 

then ACKNOWLEDGE their experience/concern/commitment/fear, 

then THANK THEM, 

then SAY what you will do or not do.

Respect is a two way street and if you give in to those who simply do not know how to respect you, your product and or service then you open a door to forever having a problem. Some bring with them their own negative "self" If you know you are being fair and offering a fair price do you need the customer badly enough to allow them to disrespect you and your company. If you do they will never be happy and neither will you for they will always be a thorn in your side. Be kind, be firm, be fair then it is up to them. If they stay with you there will be an entirely different level of respect and open communication.

When a prospective client is being incredibly difficult, you need to determine if it'll be worth the headache to have them for a client....at which point you may have to say "I don't think we're a good fit for you....you may want to look elsewhere".  Sometimes, for your own sanity, you need to walk away.  They will never be happy. 

It's a tricky question to answer because the question is when did they become a difficult customer?

I believe that a customer only becomes difficult when the sales person isn't listening to the client. While this isn't always the case asking questions, talking and LISTENING to the answers a client gives you can usually make a difficult customer a loyal and great customer. The one thing I can tell you is that it requires patience and a lot of listening and this applies to clients that are over critical of your product or service as well... what they are really saying is "I don't understand" "I need more information"

If you have a customer trying to get you to lower your price then the issue here is the sales person hasn't sold the customer no the value of what you're selling but you will always have those clients that want some kind of discount otherwise they won't be happy and to keep them happy a discount is well worth it.

The simple fact is the most difficult clients when listened to and handled with patience, understanding and kindness can and do turn into the most fiercely loyal customers and advocates for your business.

I provide excellent communication. I update them on the legal laws, guidelines, and what they need to provide in order to be pre-approved for a mortgage loan. If they have credit issues, then I will go over those with them, and help them get it repaired so that they will be eligible for home loan. Working with difficult customers is still a part of our business, and helping them get their issues resolved is a great way for them to refer you to their friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors!

Be short and sweet!  If they are critical and negative, shut it down and move on.  Time is money and if they are critical of your service or product, you have the right to refuse servicing them.  They can look elsewhere for liqueur cakes, pies and cobblers if they do not see the VALUE of your skills/talent... every person that comes across your path does not have to be a customer.  

Appease them by letting them know that they are your priority in their needs, listen, and adjust; make the changes that will make them happy.

First an foremost: Listen!

Be understanding, acknowledge their issue and fix/help them when you are able to do that. If you are not able to fix/help than describe the reason(s) in a way that they are able to understand. Sometimes the only solution might be to let them go.

Lets break down your question, in parts. Customers that are uncertain should always be guided through the entire process, without question. This customer may end up being one of your best customers going forward. Customers that are critical of the products should be offered a full refund or a replacement product. Service issues should be carefully listened to and elevated to supervision to check and see what really went wrong. Legitimate service issues need to be addressed with all concerned the same day and emails should go out to all service personnel as to the proper fix, going forward. Customers that look for discounts need to be reviewed on a case by case basis, as volume discounts my be appropriate. Again, this situation should be elevated to supervision as with difficult customers. Customer service personnel should be polite and inform the customer that they simply follow the rules and cannot make them. 

Hi Jorge,

I read all of the responses and I am going to give an answer that is completely different than the common sense generic response "Listen" which sounds great however, everyone is missing the point. If the client is being unreasonable and difficult and tries to lower your rates, than it is not "YOU" that needs to listen, it is "The Customer" that needs to listen.

After-all it is the Customer that needs your product and or service not visa versa otherwise, why would they attempt to lower your rates if they are not already interested..

Here is an Example of a recent Difficult or Confused Customer and how I managed the situation: 

I have a customer today that called and requested "why their not ranking for 2 specific keywords" which turned out to be the names of their competitor companies which is both unethical and illegal to SEO under another persons company name.

Our SEO company https://seorankmybusiness.com/ has their company website presently ranking with the following numbers of keywords on page 1 of Google, Bing and Yahoo.

Google = 78 Keywords on Page 1 of Google

Bing = 93 Keywords on Page 1 Bing

Yahoo = 88 Keywords on Page 1 of Yahoo

These are obviously massive success rankings, don't you agree?

I called the customer direct to explain that they should shop around for another service. The customer called me back apologizing after only 1 hour realizing after calling our competitors  their SEO campaign under the current National SEO plan I am providing was going to cost them over $5000+ each month against our $99 monthly fee for their SEO unlimited keyword campaigns.

The reason why I gave this example to you is simple:

Your question is all about unreasonable difficult clients. These clients may be more expensive to keep when attempting to satisfy over and over when truthfully, the customer is not knowledgeable and consumer educated enough to know and see just how both affordable and stellar your service and or your product is being provided as an asset to the customer. 

None of us want to lose business, money etc. however, there comes a times when it is just too costly to keep an unreasonable client and sometimes it is "YOU" the business owner that should simply refund, cancel or just stop negotiating over and over with a client that is just not capable to see your true value. Temporarily it may hurt financially to let them go but in the long term you will be ahead of the game.

The bottom line: If the Customer sees no value in your service and or product, than why would the Customer even try to lower your rates" as per one of the criterias in your original question. Don't be desperate.  

Hopefully this unorthodox response is found to be helpful.