Dealing with difficult PR clients.

It is no secret that the process of wooing and retaining clientele remains a complex one--even for the seasoned public relations professional.

The process of public relations becomes tense and unpredictable when a client shows signs of hostility or seems impossible to please. Although no PR professional would choose to work with a strictly passive, indecisive client, the overly anxious, critical, pessimistic, or untrusting client can pose a severe detriment to the PR professional, by his constant complaining, vetoing ideas without giving benefit of full hearing, constant demands for the impossible, or by a "don't bother me" attitude toward the practitioner.

Is the client difficult or hostile?

Michael Weiser, chairman of The Weiser Walek Group in Chicago, differentiates between the "difficult" client who, he believes, lacks a "good understanding of the need for positive perception in the marketplace," and the truly hostile client. Weiser believes the latter may harbor "a beef with the public or a counselor" or simply feel "angry, afraid, cornered or under pressure and rather than thinking through a situation, reacts with hostility."

Once they are identified, however, how does a practitioner cope with these individuals? Marty Schechter, account executive with the Denver PR and marketing firm Kyla Thompson & Associates, suggests educating the difficult client about the importance of PR. Schechter notes: "It's often a battle to make them understand the value of PR. We've seen a lot of people who don't always understand that PR is not just Crackle the Clown going through a bank lobby."

Schechter carries out his role as educator, often by outlining for a client "how PR can work for them." He describes the benefits of a good PR solution and then works to develop a solution with the client.

Education must be tailored to the "student," however. For example, Schechter describes the importance of putting information in a shape the client can relate to. Perhaps "in a form that reads in straight numbers" for the more left-brained client. Schechter says, "It's too difficult to have the client decipher your terms. Give messages in terms they understand!"

Identifying and communicating goals

Also, since busy clientele often remain understandably bottom-line oriented, Louis C. Williams, Jr., ABC, president of L.C. Williams and Associates in Chicago, suggests establishing "mutually agreeable" objectives between client and counselor. Schechter also says: "We agree upon goals, what we are after, how we will reach it."

Part of the process of goal shaping, Schechter believes, is making sure clients understand "what attainable goals are." Also, Williams and Schechter highlight the importance of having measurable objectives. Schechter says, "Good PR programs have very strong measurement and evaluation standards built in!"

In fact, Schechter suggests making everyone involved in a project "on down to the secretaries" a part of the planning process. This, he insists, will help ensure belief in and commitment to the project.

Of course, no substitute exists for good, solid preparation. A practitioner's "intellectual readiness" to tackle a task can easily mean the difference between a content client and a continually irritable one. Schechter stresses: "Every good program starts with research -- read papers, be up to date, do extra work, be aware of things going on!"

Williams suggests that trying to "develop a personal rapport" with a difficult client might help in dealing with that individual. He also mentions the wisdom of having "senior PR firm management" deal with a hostile client.

Weiser believes a practitioner's role often parallels that of a physician counseling a patient's family in the emergency room. "Often a client's judgment is clouded; being able to provide an unfettered point of view without emotion is one of the most important roles we can play."

Counsel the client in developing trust

Communication Professor Carole Kleinberg, of Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, Ill. suggests: "Get the client talking about what's important .... Repeat what you're hearing and ask him if you understand the problem clearly." Kleinberg also suggests regulating the tone of voice used when speaking with an anxious client. "The louder he talks, the softer you talk," she recommends.

When conflicts fester unresolved, however, an agent/client relationship will often suffer. Weiser acknowledges that a practitioner has to "counsel within the context of relationship."

Therefore, he believes, "the quality of the counselor is limited or aided by the communication effectiveness and trust that develops."

Indeed when communication becomes restricted, stagnant or even nonexistent, the practitioner's willingness to approach a client can easily fade as ideas, suggestions or even attempts at conversation hit an unyielding wall. As Weiser explains: "When someone is hostile, they're generally less willing to try." But he also believes that "someone who is willing to be open has a greater range of alternatives."

Since trust developed over time remains a luxury, however, practitioners employ different methods to get to know clients early on. Schechter encourages a "chemistry meeting" with brand new clients. "At this first meeting ... you get a feel for each other and generally realize immediately if you're comfortable working together," Schechter concedes.

Some also suggest an "attitude survey" of a client firm as helpful in providing initial information to the practitioner, in his or her quest to know more about their client. Indeed, such an examination might yield many valuable tidbits to the practitioner, the knowledge of which might make a relationship with an impossible client less strained. Reminds one New York PR agent, however: "Awareness of an attitude does not mandate complete agreement or even complete understanding, but being alert to a client's particular frame of mind helps -- and the earlier in a relationship the better."

Although practitioners suggest complying, as much as possible, with the personal demands of clients, almost all point out the importance of maintaining high ethical standards, despite occasional pressure to the contrary from the difficult client.

Schechter insists that although ethical decisions remain among the toughest for the practitioner, it is the practitioner's job to "maintain a positive image of the company." He believes this responsibility necessitates "pointing out the drawbacks or potential backlash of not getting out information or of releasing information on a competitor."

Weiser also stresses: "It's incumbent on me as a counselor to point out pitfalls, leverages and outstanding opportunities" to a client. And although Schechter believes that "everyone has a right to tell their own story," he also insists that, as a practitioner "you have to believe in what you're doing and take on a client and feel good about it."

In reality, however, you may never discover the truth behind a client's animosity.

Frances Maglio-Jung works at the international affairs department at United Airlines in Elk Grove Township, Ill.