Boundaries & Balance: Mastering Client Communication

Jul 26

Boundaries and Balance. Mastering clarity and communication with your clients, customers and students.

Boundaries and Balance…two traits you may struggle with, especially if you are a mom who juggles home responsibilities with running a business from home.

For as long as I can remember, I have been a people pleaser who rarely says no to others, even if in my gut I know I should have simply been honest and declined the request.

In the moment, saying “yes” to something is easy, but in the long run it often creates so many problems.

You may know what I am talking about if…

You agree to things you don’t actually want to do.
You avoid any and all conflict.
You allow others to take advantage of your kindness.
You find it difficult to say “no” and stand up for yourself.
You minimize your own feelings and needs.
You compromise your values if if it means people will like you.
You apologize too much.
You have difficulties accepting praise or credit.

Finding balance and setting boundaries is important for women in small businesses because it is extremely easy to get wrapped up in your work, but then all of a sudden you realize you begin neglecting your health and home responsibilities.

Been there…done that 🤣

I’m pretty sure you too have given way more than you should…but you keep doing the same things over and over again.

Until it finally hits you like a brick.

It is time to set a few boundaries.

And if your people pleasing has affected your business and your bottom line…planning and getting organized will create some pretty rocking successes in the future.

Personal lessons I have learned the hard way:

If you do not have a clear plan you will end up missing important elements in the work. (plans like my own checklist I use, download it here if you wish) ♥
Setting clear boundaries with clients, students and customers will save time and they will know exactly what is expected of them and what services they will receive. Create your own agreement or use mine as a guideline.
If you provide services like coaching or building websites it is crucial to have an agreement so that all the parties understand what is expected.
Refrain from bartering or giving friends and family special rates. We are not large corporations or charities and our time is limited and valuable too.
Have a set checklist to go over at the end of any project or service packages.
Do not promise to do add-on tasks as “friendly favours” and then not deliver on them. There is nothing worse than mentioning a service you will provide (out of the goodness of your heart) but then realize you have already gone above and beyond in the work you have provided).
Have a clear plan of add-on services available and their costs. Here’s mine to give you an idea.
Be clear on what is needed from your client and have a space in which all the correspondence takes place, (avoid having them send you information and images in text, emails, Google workspace, on the website, in Canva etc.).
Do not forget to list all the additional expenses, subscriptions and add-ons that may incur on top of your website build fee:

subscriptions for newsletters (there are different packages and service providers to choose from)
courses
booking service
video add-ons (most sites have a certain size of video they allow, you can typically pay for more)
yearly domain renewal
services like Google workspace (for analytics, email etc.)
Stripe, PayPal or Square (for taking payments, they all charge a % of your sales)

I created a few documents for my own clients and would love to share them with you. You are welcome to use them as guidelines and take what you need to apply to your own business!

(click the images for your free pdf’s, no sign up required)