It’s said that the first casualty of every battle is the plan, and that’s just as true of business as it is of warfare. The reality is that no matter how meticulous and organized you are things don’t always go smoothly, and that can impact your clients.

Naturally the best way to deal with client complaints is to not have any complaints. That makes for a great Vaudeville punch line, but it’s not very practical advice.

So then, what’s really the best way to deal with complaints? The answer is two-fold. First, ensure that your communication with clients is crystal clear. Secondly, be pro-active rather than reactive with your communication.

What do I mean by proactive versus reactive? Simply that you be the first one to bring up a subject, especially if it’s a sensitive one.

Here’s a perfect example of a common issue: due to a scheduling problem, the client’s job has to be pushed back on the calendar, and he’s not happy about it. Everyone reading this can related to this, because it happens all the time.

Whereas the reactive response is to try and calm down the client after he’s already steamed, the proactive solution is by having the project manager lay out the realities of scheduling right from the start. Only one person on your staff (the PM) should ever discuss scheduling with clients, in order to avoid confusion. In addition, smart PMs build extra time into the schedule to account for the unknown. That means that the worst case scenario is that no one is greatly inconvenienced, and the best case scenario is that jobs get finished ahead of schedule.

Here’s another example of something gone wrong: the speakers/patch panel/TV are in the wrong spot, or not there at all. This is what happens when the clients’ expectations and what was in the design documents don’t meet.

What if it’s genuinely your company’s fault? Well, suck it up, fix it and move on. Apologize too.

What if it stems from bad communication? Just like with scheduling, right from the outset only one team member should discuss change orders with the client: the project manager. It has to be abundantly clear to the client that if he want to make changes, he doesn’t speak to an installer, the sales designer or even the owner of the company; he goes to the PM. Keep that clear right from the start, and you’re a lot less likely to run into problems like this at all.

The bottom line here is that resolution and prevention of most issues lies in effective communication, both when setting expectations, and then later working out a solution. Communication helps every relationship, and business ones are no different.

Lee Distad is a rAVe columnist and freelance writer covering topics from CE to global business and finance in both print and online. Reach him at lee@ravepubs.com