My Dream Client is a Jerk!

What do you do if your top dream client is really not the nicest person on the planet? What if they have their needs met in every way and there isn’t anything that they want to buy from you? They don’t have the time of day for you but you still know that you are the best person for the job?

This week I coached a financial executive in this area. His dream client is a type A professional, who is a multimillionaire, and has no need, or so he seems, to be nice to people. My client has been trying to sell him some financial products and he’s gotten through to him. But the traditional ways of my client’s charm isn’t working on this guy. Number one, my client, a big golfer, can’t get the guy interested in the game at all. Next, the potential client has NO hobbies except work. He does have kids but he never seems to talk about anything. He’s not a friendly sort of person and is pretty much all business.

My client finally realized that he was being intimidated and then realized that there was no reason for that. First of all, this is a very successful and wealthy individual, who happens to not be SMART enough to have any life insurance. If something happened to him, his family would have no income whatsoever and would lose everything they had. Also, he had done no protection of his assets, had no living will or anything that should be in order.

Basically, my client realized, that this man NEEDED him. He realized that as smart as he was about MAKING money, he had no sense at all about KEEPING his money.

We discussed that the unfriendliness could be masking insecurity, from his lack of comfort in this area. The best strategy is to provide the information on a continual basis, be of the best help he can, and get out of his way.

The best way to communicate with a JERK of a client is to say Hi. Then present the information. Then say you have to run. Don’t try to initiate any small talk or niceties with the person. After this person realizes that you are ALL business then more than likely he’ll start to like your style and HE’ll be the one to chat once in a while.

I remember one client I had who was on the phone and her voice was very deep and slow. I knew that she probably dressed like a man and acted like a man. I could just tell. I imagined she had long gray hair and wore no make up, dressed in jeans and men’s shoes, just to be comfortable. Style wasn’t a part of her world, only comfort.

I was a young upbeat sales person and when I’d talk with her, she was always annoyed. I finally learned to model HER behavior and by slowing down and by lowering my voice, she related to me much better. I created a comfort level for her.

Slowly, she warmed up to me. I became her favorite representative and we ended up doing business for several years.

Little did she know that I completely changed my tone and my natural style to meet her at where she was. I wasn’t manipulating her, I was making her comfortable. It worked. And I had several commission checks to prove it!!

So if your client is a jerk. Don’t’ try to put them in a good mood. That’ll just put you in a bad mood because you’ll be rejected. Instead, try to model their behavior a bit. Be too busy to talk with them at length. Be a total pro but have somewhere to go or have a client to meet so you won’t be able to chat. Do this over and over until the client is itching to get to know where you are going and how you are so successful.

Before long, the jerk will warm up and the best part is.. so will your wallet!