How to answer "How do you deal with disagreement from clients?" in a job interview

I was asked this question in a recent interview: "How do you deal with disagreement from clients?"

It almost threw me into a tailspin!

Interviewers ask this question to assess how you react to difficult situations at work.

Answering this question well will show that you have the conflict resolution skills necessary to handle the job!

For jobs that involve interacting with clients, strong communication skills are important. The interviewer wants to learn if you can communicate in a way that encourages collaboration and managing conflict effectively.

Your answer should show that you can:

• Understand another person's perspective

• Provide alternatives to reach a compromise

• Maintain a good working relationship

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• Choose a time from your past work experience when a client disagreed with you, and you took responsibility for resolving it.

• Focus on actions you took that involved listening, asking questions, reflecting on your own assumptions, and seeking common ground.

• Use the STAR method to structure your answer.

For example, if you're interviewing for a job at a marketing agency, you might say:

"A client in my previous role disagreed with our proposed approach to marketing her product on social media. To keep the project moving forward, I spoke with her to clarify her concerns. That discussion helped me understand why she resisted the plan and we agreed on a new approach that still utilized the strengths of our team."

• Situation: The client disagreed with your approach.

• Task: You kept the project moving forward.

• Action: You spoke with the client to clarify concerns.

• Result: You came to an agreement on a new approach.

Don't worry if you haven't worked with clients before! You can use this method to talk about your experience with customers, coworkers, or even people you went to school with.

You're interviewing for a job as a project manager at a company that handles lots of client projects. The interviewer asks, "How do you deal with disagreement from clients?"

How should you respond?

A. "I've often dealt with conflict from clients. At my last role, our client wasn't satisfied with the project timeline we proposed. He was frustrated, but fortunately, my boss stepped in to find a solution that worked for everyone."

B. "When a client doesn't like what we've delivered, I have found it's best to keep things professional, listen carefully, and consider things from their point of view to come to a compromise."

C. "My company's biggest client asked my team to revise our deliverables halfway through the project. I met with the lead to find out where they were coming from and explain our concerns, and we agreed on a path forward."

Be prepared to answer this question in your own interview: