“Assumptions are the termites of relationships.” – Henry Winkler
Do you feel obligated to check work emails, texts, and voicemails at all hours?
Do you often work evenings, weekends, and holidays, even after you promised yourself you wouldn’t?
Do you feel pressured to say yes to pushy clients because it’s easier than saying no?
Do you feel resentful of clients for placing unreasonable demands on your time?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to check your boundaries. If you are ready to establish healthy boundaries with your clients, here are five strategies to help you get the process started.
1. Clearly define your boundaries:
When it comes to setting boundaries with clients, you first need to decide how you want your relationship structured, and how that relationship relates to the delivery of your core product or service. Once you’ve established those parameters, you’ll want to prepare clear legal agreements or have an attorney make one that outline and clarify the expectations of both parties in a written contract or agreement.
Here are some common things all business owners need to consider include the following:
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- When you are available to clients
- How clients can contact you
- What your response time will be
- Exactly what is and what is not included in your deliverables
- What your payment terms are
- How, when, and where disputes will be handled
Above all, set the hours during which you will respond to emails, calls, and messages, and stick to that schedule religiously. You can establish these boundaries by including them in your agreements.
2. Incorporate your boundaries in your legal agreements:
To ensure your clients are aware of your boundaries and the consequences for breaching them incorporate your boundaries in the terms of your legal agreements. Then, make your client agreement part of your sales process.
3. Communicate your boundaries upfront:
It’s important that you discuss these expectations with your clients, answer any questions they have, and get them to sign off before you start work.
Time is money, so make sure you are being compensated fairly for your time. And if you are unclear about the value of your time, and how to create boundaries around your time, ask us about our Money Map To Freedom program.
4. Be consistent with enforcement:
Overly demanding clients often don’t realize they’re overstepping boundaries and this is particularly true if you’ve let them cross your boundaries already without saying anything. If you answer a client phone call during your off-hours or perform extra work that’s beyond the scope of your agreement.
Setting boundaries is all about creating habits, and the most effective way to create a habit is by doing something consistently. If you don’t consistently enforce your boundaries, you are setting yourself up to have your boundaries crossed again and again.
5. Learn to say “No”:
When establishing boundaries, don’t think just about what you can do, but what you really want to do with your work. This is your business after all, so align your boundaries with your priorities and passion, so you have the freedom to do more of what you love and less of what you don’t.
This means getting comfortable saying “no” to clients and projects that are not in line with the vision you’ve set for your business. This may even require you to end relationships with clients who refuse to honor your boundaries.
Ultimately, not every client is a good fit for your business, and establishing healthy boundaries is one way to weed out the bad ones before they cause serious problems. Our Attorneys serve Roswell, Lawrenceville, and Duluth, Georgia. Call us today!
