Neglecting customers’ needs, of course, can make clients feels unimportant and make tempers flare. Advisors, fortunately, have a variety of strategies for preventing clients from getting angry and in cases when clients do become angry, diffusing tensions.

The ideal strategy, not surprisingly, is to run an efficient practice that allows advisors to proactively reach out to clients with important communications and to respond quickly to client inquiries. In most instances, running efficient practices means that advisors will have to delegate certain tasks, such as administrative matters, to other employees or outsource various functions.

Taking such actions can give advisors more time for dealing with clients, which can go a long way in helping prevent angry clients. Yet, even the most efficient advisors may eventually have to deal with unreasonable clients as misunderstandings and other mistakes arise.

One strategy for dealing with client conflicts is to ensure that no misunderstanding has occurred. As an example, a prospect that has forgotten that he or she has signed up to receive email content from an advisor may believe they are being spammed when they get the communications and express their anger over the matter. In such an instance, an advisor should seek to diffuse the situation by acknowledging that receiving spam is frustrating and by explaining that his or her firm only sends out emails to recipients who have asked to receive the communications.

An advisor may also want to have relevant data handy, such as when the prospect had requested to be added to the mailing list. That way, if a prospect denies having signed up for the communications, the advisor can respond by saying when the request was made.

In discussing the matter, it’s important to avoid sounding defensive or confrontational as doing so can cause angry feelings to strengthen. Rather, an advisor should acknowledge that it’s easy to forget about online activities such as asking to be added to mailing lists and offer to remove the individual from the list.

In some cases, clients may become angry not because of a simple misunderstanding but because of an advisor’s errors. In such instances, it is often best to acknowledge the mistake, empathize with the client and emphasize that the advisory firm will do everything possible to prevent such a mistake from happening again. Once again, developing a defensive tone will probably just cause an escalation of a client’s temper.

Advisors should instead maintain a positive, upbeat tone. One strategy may be to explain new resources or procedures that the advisor’s firm has to prevent such mistakes from happening again.

Advisors also need to be prepared to deal with irrational clients who have unreasonable expectations. Unfortunately no magic bullet exists for dealing with such clients. When dealing with conflicts involving difficult clients, advisors should follow many of the same steps as they would follow when addressing issues with reasonable clients.

Advisors should try to show empathy for clients’ frustration and make it clear that they understand why their client is upset. Advisors should also try to explain, without sounding confrontational, what they have done to meet their client’s expectations, such as returning telephone calls promptly, conducting in-depth research in investment products, and building portfolios that are appropriate for each individual’s risk tolerance.

Irrational clients, however, are likely to continue to be difficult, regardless of how skillfully an advisor tries to navigate conflicts. That means an advisor may have to decide if it makes senses to tolerate a client’s difficult nature or if the client should be dismissed. In the long run, dismissing a client may be the only viable option for ending a difficult and troublesome relationship.