Handling Distressed Clients
Fieldfisher is a European law firm with market-leading practices in many of the world’s most dynamic sectors. They are an exciting, forward-thinking organisation with a particular focus on technology, financial services, energy & natural resources and life sciences.
Background
Because clients can find themselves in difficult situations it can be common for their communication to be driven by this pressure.
Need
The need was to develop a workshop which gace participants practical tools to help in these specific situations.
Activity
The agenda for the workshop was as follows:
- Introduction and objectives.
- The underlying drivers of distress & the implications these have on our overall communication approach.
- Emotion v Logic – client reactions & how we can respond appropriately.
- The stages of distress – how our approach can change at each stage.
- Communication skills framework – the relative importance of our words, our tone & our body language.
- Strategies for taking control & giving confidence.
- Sympathy & empathy – how not to get drawn in.
- Summarising, repeating & going beyond normal service.
- Transactional analysis – a framework for effective communication.
- Personal actions
Outcomes
The workshop was very engaging and had participants reviewing and practicing the skills of dealing with distressed clients.
Participant Feedback
“Really practical training.”
“Very interesting.”
“The session was run very well with a good atmosphere which meant we could discuss and practice things.”
Client Comment
“The training workshop was developed as part of a series and was very well received by our people.”