Amanda McVicker (0:00)
Hello, and welcome to today's episode of The OBM Educator. Today we are going to be getting into a topic that has been coming up a lot when I'm talking specifically with this, the current cohort of Six Week OBM that I am working with right now. The topic of boundaries has come up so much, and I know I've done a few episodes on boundaries already, but I think that one, it's an important conversation, and I don't think you can talk too much about boundaries.
But also, what we're going to be specifically talking about today is how to reset with a current client. It's easy enough when you're starting with a new client to enforce your boundaries because that's all they will know. Once you're super clear on your boundaries, it's easy to say, okay, this is what I'm doing, and they don't know any different.
And so they're like, okay, this is how we'll work. Cool. But it's a lot harder to pivot and enforce your boundaries when you've been working with a client for a long time.
Maybe they started as a VA client, or maybe when you were a brand-new OBM, and maybe you had more free time, or you just weren't as clear on what your boundaries would be, and you might have been really lax in your turnaround times and responding right away, and all of those things that as you get more clients, as you grow your business, really become a burden. It's hard in the middle of that relationship to pivot. And so that's what we're going to be specifically talking about today.
And you might notice my voice sounds very low, battling a cold right now. So ignore that. I'll edit out all the coughs.
Okay, let's get started. Welcome to The OBM Educator. I'm your host, Amanda McVicker, a veteran OBM who serves six and seven-figure entrepreneurs, as well as educates new OBMs with the skills and competence they need to start and grow their own successful online business management business.
Follow along as I share valuable insights, behind-the-scenes sneak peeks, and proven strategies to help you build a better OBM business. So the first thing when you're looking at maintaining your boundaries, when you're looking at setting them and holding clients to them is you have to get super clear on what those boundaries are. Everyone has different boundaries.
Everyone has different policies. That's another way that you can phrase it. Different business policies, right? When we all work nine-to-fives or other jobs, there were policies in place in that business.
And you have a business. And so these are the policies that you are putting in place for you and your business. And so these are going to be things like turnaround times, and not just like a standard turnaround time, having different turnaround times for different things.
So what is your turnaround time for a simple task? What is your turnaround time for a project? What is your turnaround time for communication? You want to make sure that you're clear on what all of that is. And you want to make sure that it is something that is noted, right? In a welcome packet, in your contract, somewhere where it is noted. So your client can see these are my stated policies, my stated turnaround times.
Another thing you want to get super clear on is what are your working hours? Now, as freelancers, contractors, we don't technically have set working hours, and clients cannot control our working hours. But it's always good to have at least like a set of hours each day, or whatever your schedule is, that your clients could generally expect you to be around. Now, this doesn't mean that you will automatically respond right away.
It doesn't mean you're chained to your desk. But giving them a general idea that, hey, from Monday through Thursday, from nine to one, I'm going to be at my desk. I might be working on your stuff.
I might be working on other client things. If there happened to be an emergency, like I would be able to take care of it during that time. Because what this does is it gives your clients an idea of the appropriate times to reach out to you, right? You know, your client can reach out to you whenever they can message you at 11 o'clock at night.
But giving your working hours sets the expectation that even though they message you at 11 o'clock at night, you are not near your computer. Now, you might be. Sometimes we work late, right? Sometimes we do the after bedtime routine work hours.
But your client doesn't need to know that. Your client should not expect you to reply during that time, even if you see that message come through because of your more established working hours. Now, maybe you have a nine to five or maybe you're a mom with kids at home and you work within pockets of time.
In this case, you might not have working hours. It could change day to day. So this would be where it's really important to have that turnaround time established so that your client knows that if they message you whenever during the day, that within, say, 24 hours, they should expect a response back from you, regardless of when it is.
And another thing that you want to get super clear on when thinking about your boundaries or your policies is what your role is. What is the work that you do and do not do? This is going to be super important, especially around scope creep, which is where a client is trying to get you to do something outside of what you are contracted to do. And it can be a huge source of stress to have this boundary like infringed upon because when we're doing work that we don't want to be doing and work that's like taking away from actual work that we need to do, like it's so stressful and we feel like we can't say no, right? And so being super clear on what that work is that you will and will not do is going to help so much in setting and keeping your boundaries.
Okay, so now that we're super clear on our boundaries, policies in our business, how do we enforce them when we have not enforced them previously? There are going to be several different ways to approach this. I'm going to go out on a limb to say that if you are in this situation where a client is encroaching on your boundaries and you're feeling very stressed out about it, you're probably not the type of person to just come out and say, hey, stop it. This is not how my business is going to be run and things are going to change.
You might be, and if you are, that's the step. That's what you do. But for the most part, I think that if you are struggling with this, that is not going to be the solution for you.
Something that I was talking about with the Six Week OBM girls is that people who make really good OBMs have most likely come from stressful backgrounds, nine-to-fives, industries, whatever. I previously was a conference planner where the only answer is yes, of course, right away. And there are plenty of other industries I know of that have been demanding and we want to build our own business to have something different, but we worked for a while in those industries and that's kind of ingrained in us, this people-pleasingness, wanting to go above and beyond, and that's what makes us a great OBM.
Those things are what help set us apart, but they're also the reason that most likely we started a business because we didn't want to deal with anymore. And so a lot of people, and I think a lot of people who are listening to this are people-pleasers or recovering people-pleasers, but who are trying to create a business that allows them to live their life, allows them to be with their family, to go on trips, to relax in the middle of the day. And so that's why we have to be super strong about these boundaries so that we are able to have that flexibility.
So knowing that probably the majority of you are not the type of people who can just be like, hey, stop, we're just redoing this. These are tips that I have found work when you are wanting to kind of reset things. One thing that could work that we're actually kind of in the perfect time to do it if you implement it quickly is using the change of seasons to introduce new policies.
And so this especially works if you're a mom and it's summer break and things need to change, right? But it can work, you know, start of school, time change, new routines, things like that, and not advocating lying, but make something up if you need to that, hey, client, this is changing in my life and therefore these things need to change as well. And so something I did, I think it was two years ago, I had my kids home for the summer and I had to adjust my working schedule so that I was only going to work Monday through Thursday. And I had set hours, my working hours, that they could expect me to be around, although the turnaround time is still in effect, right? Laid all of that out, sent it to my clients.
I'm like, hey guys, just so you know, my situation's changed. Here is XYZ what's going on. And then I stuck with it, right? Like that's the important part.
Like you make the change, but then you have to stick with it. Something important to note is that no one is going to hold your boundaries for you. You have to be the one who holds your boundaries.
You might have like that random unicorn client every now and then who's like, why are you responding to things? Or I thought you were taking Fridays off, right? We love those clients. I have clients like that. But for the most part, they are not going to hold your boundaries for you at least as not as strictly as you should be.
So you give them, you know, your updated situation, but then you hold to those boundaries. Another time that you can do kind of like a refresh is with contract renewals. If you renew your contract on an annual basis or, you know, whatever cadence you have, adding in your policies and having them initial them so that they are aware is a great way to put it out there without making it that big of a deal.
Now, if you don't do an updated contract renewal, like I don't do contract renewals for my clients, you could create a new contract, right? You could say, hey, I'm updating my contracts right now. Just to add in a few things, can you sign, review, let me know if you have any questions and again, have them initial. What are those policies? I agree to this turnaround time.
I understand that these are the working hours. I understand this is the work that I am doing. And then again, hold those boundaries.
You've put them out there and then now you have to hold them. But I am going to be honest about something. Some clients do not like change.
Some clients are going to initial the contract. They're going to reply to an email saying, you know, things are changing and they're going to say, yep, sounds good. And they are going to ignore those boundaries and they are going to encroach upon those boundaries.
Even with you holding them, they're going to follow up multiple times. They're going to start dropping snide comments about, wow, you used to be so much quicker, things like that. This is where you have an important decision to make.
Not saying that they are bad clients, bad people, whatever. But at the end of the day, there's a decision that you have to make that if you have put in all the effort that you can to make known your boundaries and enforce your boundaries, and they are still not respecting your boundaries, that it might be a case of a client that just does not work out. Letting go of a client who does not respect your boundaries is really hard because you feel, I mean, it's part of them not respecting your boundaries.
You really do feel like they rely on you for most things. But if you want to be growing your business in a way that five, 10 years from now, you are still in this business, you need to be very intentional about the clients that you keep long-term. And a client who does not respect your boundaries, even when you are enforcing them and you are making them known, is most probably not the client for you.
And in that case, you can tell them why, hey, it's not working out. I have these policies and it seems like you're not following them or respecting them. And therefore I cannot continue this working relationship.
Like that might be a kick in the butt for them. Or you can just tell them it's not a good fit right now if you don't want to get into it. Like if you're, if you've done all that you can do and it's not making a difference.
I do want to leave you with this, that putting in the work to honor your own boundaries is really impressive. To make that change with a client is impressive. To take the time to say, hey, this is not how I want to be running my business and I think I can do it better.
That is impressive. And so if you are at this point that you are wanting to make these changes and you, you are, you know, actively making these changes, like I applaud you because it is so much easier in the sense of having to do less things to just keep being walked all over and burn out. It's harder to put in the work to create something that is lasting.
But of course, the longevity of that is going to be so much easier, so much flowier than the alternative. So I hope this was helpful as you are navigating client relationships and boundaries. And again, just to leave you with this like final thought, no one is going to hold your boundaries for you.
Okay. I will talk with y'all next week. Bye.
Thanks for joining me for this episode of The OBM Educator. I hope what you heard today is helpful for you on your OBM journey. If you loved today's episode, I would so appreciate you sharing it and leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform.
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