Screaming Mimis and Chatty Cathys

Do you give nicknames to your most difficult clients?   I have a client who does.  She assigns names to her clients as it tends to relieve her stress. Monikers such Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Clueless, Obi (obnoxious) and Nobi (knows nothing) and the list goes on.

With the Good, the Bad and the Ugly clients, it's all about relieving the stress.

I use Screaming Mimi to describe the client who always likes to complain at the top of their lungs.  They tend to be a bit elusive, irrational and it usually has nothing do to with you or your company.

I use Chatty Cathy to describe clients who have nothing better to do but take up your time with meaningless chatter.  All designed to torture you slowly, word by word, with a monologue that has nothing to do with the service or product you have provided to them.

So how do you get them off the phone and minimize the flotsam of feelings they leave behind?  Aside from just plain hanging up, gently interrupting them with a request to 'continue the conversation' at another time usually works. They are going to feel privileged to now have an appointment to complain versus just an impulse call.

What do you do to get them off the phone?  Comments most welcome.