“For months I’ve been trying to get her to send me the copy for her website so I can finish it…” My client said to me.
“….And NOW she wants me to have the website finished by the end of the week and I can’t do that on such short notice when I’ve been waiting for weeks!”
Many of us don’t have a dimmer switch. There’s only an on or off button.
We WANT to help.
Resulting in potential clients or new clients doing some of these:
❌Call Spamming you for every little thing.
❌Not signing the contract
❌Delaying Payments
❌No-shows
❌Not giving you the deliverables you need to complete your work.
Now imagine having 5 clients like that.
Sadly it’s a fatal affliction many succumb to. A steep road to burnout and blissfully thinking:
“….IF I DIDN’T NEED THE MONEY, YOU’D BE OUT OF HERE ALREADY!”
Two years ago a lady came to me asking to schedule a call. She booked herself in and didn’t show up.
5 months later she sends me a message saying:
“I’m sorry, I didn’t show up. I’m ready now!”
We talked the next day and she decided to work with me on a 7k package. I’ve sent over the payment details, sent the contract and scheduled her first session in.
She had her session, except she didn’t pay. She didn’t sign the contract.
And yet she called me day and night. For help in her business.
For weeks.
I felt drained and resentfully answered her every whim.
IT WAS MY FAULT.
So what’s a girl to do when this happens?
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!
Your clients don’t do this out of love for ‘prank’ calling you.
They aren’t monsters who don’t want to pay you.
Neither are they particularly thrilled about working until late at night either.
But as mortals we take any help we can get.
We have to teach our clients how we want to be treated.
That is on us.
✔️Setup contracts that clearly state your terms of service
✔️Actually stick to your own working hours! (No email, calls or messages when you want to be offline)
✔️Create a Pause-Clause if you require deliverables to complete your work
There’s freedom in this structure and your clients will thank you for it.
As will you.
IF YOU WANT OTHERS TO VALUE YOUR TIME YOU HAVE TO SHOW THEM WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
How do deal with late-night calls or out of office messages?
And if you want more info on what working together could look like hit me up at hello@adinakroll.com
