From nightmare to opportunity: How to handle difficult clients

With more than 20 years of experience in the industry, including a decade at Belle Property, Pomponio has refined his client management skills, even when handling challenging clients.

“I think every negative situation can be flipped to a positive; it’s an opportunity to show that you can shine, as opposed to making a negative an even bigger negative,” he said.

Pomponio, who started as a “one-man band”, said the industry has shifted over the years, which pushed him to adapt his client engagement strategy.

Over the years, he has learnt to listen to his clients, manage expectations, diffuse conflict, and learn when to part ways with clients that are misaligned with his and Belle Property’s values.

“You can exhaust yourself seeking validation and worthiness in business, and eventually, you start to question why you would change your entire business model to satisfy just one person,” Pomponio said.

Drawing from extensive experience with diverse clients, Pomponio shared key strategies for managing relationships and minimising interactions with challenging clients within the real estate industry.

Common traits in difficult clients

According to Pomponio, difficult clients often have the same behaviour and agents should look for patterns of unrealistic expectations and a lack of respect for professional boundaries.

He said agents can be selective and dismiss “energy-zapping” clients who drain the company’s staff and resources.

“We’re in an industry where we can choose our clientele; as long as you’re doing the right thing and it’s coming from the right place, you should be able to align with some great people,” he said.

He pointed out an incident with a vendor he ultimately turned down as they had inflated their property’s value while expecting extensive marketing support from Belle Property.

“We don’t use promotions to entice clients; it’s about working with people who genuinely want to do business with us,” Pomponio said.

Active listening and diffusing conflict

Following his decades of experience, Pomponio said one key to managing difficult clients is to “listen without ego”.

He reminded agents that “it is not about them” and that they should not let their egos influence the conversation.

Instead, they should create an environment where clients feel genuinely heard and taken care of, which he deemed crucial for building strong relationships.

“Whether you’re right or wrong, clients want to work with someone prepared to listen,” he said.

“The toughest tool is to listen with two ears, not to debate or defend, and seek understanding before seeking to be understood.”

Another key strategy for managing difficult clients is to diffuse conflict promptly with a level-headed approach.

Pomponio said that when conflicts arise, agents should take a step back and not let emotion take the lead in the conversation.

“A small percentage of people won’t see eye to eye with,” he said.

“I diffuse such situations by detaching emotionally and agreeing that they’re not happy with us, and we don’t need to work together.”

Additionally, the Belle Property director said agents should be on the lookout for clients who don’t align with their agency’s core values and should part ways sooner rather than later.

He said that when client expectations clash with business values, agents should prioritise the business rather than making a sale.

“Upholding our standards protects 100 per cent of our business,” he said.

Being flexible and acknowledging mistakes

While active listening is vital for building strong customer relationships, Pomponio said flexibility and a long-term focus are equally important for managing expectations effectively.

He said adaptability and an openness to learning from mistakes can turn negative interactions into positive ones.

“If compensation or understanding or mutual commercial agreement is needed, I’m open to it; I don’t take a rigid stance of being right while they’re wrong,” he said.

Demonstrating his active listening and emotionally detached approach, he recalled an incident where a technical glitch led to repeated early-morning calls to an unhappy client.

“I woke up to an infuriating email, and I understood; I could hear where it was coming from,” he said.

Pomponio took immediate action rather than deflecting the blame.

“I jumped on the phone, I acknowledged that we made a mistake and that we fixed the system, and it won’t happen again,” he said.

To make amends, he sent a bottle of wine and a dinner voucher, hoping to compensate for the inconvenience.

Acknowledging the mistake and offering a goodwill gesture resulted in a handwritten testimonial from the client.

“It wasn’t the incident itself, but how you handled that showed me how Belle Property [does] business,” the client wrote.

Setting clear expectations

Setting clear client expectations from the outset is another strategy Pomponio employs to prevent issues from arising during client interactions.

Pomponio said that assigning specialists to various departments streamlines client interactions with professionals who are best suited to their needs.

“We have customer service in our business that follows up on every bit of lost business and also does feedback calls post-transaction,” he said.

Additionally, feedback and testimonials are invaluable, he said, as they shape business practices.

“Sometimes, our customers understand our industry better than we do because we only know our perspective. We’re in a people-driven business, and it’s the customers who keep it going,” Pomponio said.

Pomponio reiterated that managing client expectations requires knowing when to walk away and staying true to business values, which means accepting that not all client relationships will align.

“The ego would say we need to keep every client, but we’re confident in how we do business and uphold our values, so if someone chooses to go elsewhere, that’s OK,” he said.

“I believe time can heal a lot of things; you may not have aligned with someone in the past, but that doesn’t mean you won’t in the future.”

Pomponio noted that in the real estate sector, upholding ethical practices and high standards is more important, and agents shouldn’t compromise their values for the sake of any client.

“If you can validate that you’re running a business the right way and upholding a strong standard, then value your time,” he said.

“There are like-minded people who want to work with you – you just haven’t found them yet.”

Turning setbacks into strengths

While managing difficult clients is part of the industry, and knowing to part ways is crucial, Pomponio believes every interaction, even negative ones, can be turned into a growth opportunity.

He said negative client experiences give agents growth opportunities, shaping stronger leadership and refining business practices.

“I bounce back very quickly and train my leadership team to do so well,” he said.

“Assess, take on the feedback, look in the revision mirror, and take a good moment to reflect, but then look in the windscreen and move forward.”

Pomponio said top-ranking agents do not have simply skills or talent but a lot of resilience.

“The biggest thing that keeps people at the top of their game is how quickly they bounce back from failure, not a bad week, not a bad month, not a bad year,” Pomponio said.