We have all had those clients that are like pulling teeth, who choose to ignore all the advice you can give them. Here are some tips that might help you overcome the most difficult client:
- How we speak to people is just as important as what we say.
- Taking time to listen to your clients is an essential part of helping them change.
- The solution must come from the person with the problem – bashing them over the head with what you know is the right idea, doesn’t work.
- Changing people’s mindsets to their problems only happens when they feel ready to change, not when they are told to.
- When people find their own solutions, they are the most enduring and effective.
Adopting a one size fits all approach to changing behaviour is a recipe for disaster, you need to have an armoury of tools that will help clients unlock their potential. As the trainer you need to understand that your reasons for change have no power, it must be the clients’ reasons for change.
Learning to listen, probably the most underestimated skill, is essential for your communication. Encourage the client to help them understand that they have the ability to change, even those who continually say, ‘I cant’! As you adopt these changes in your training style, you will find you no longer have disagreements with your clients, you will enable the client to make their own choices therefore creating an equal relationship; you will also stop feeling the need to coerce your client into taking action.
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