10 Years in Business–Tip #35: Set Parameters With Your Clients

In my special report, What I Know For Sure: Lessons Learned in 10 Years of Business, I list 75 topic areas that I have bumped into over ten years. And every day in October, I will randomly choose one of the 75 and expound on it. So here’s today’s:

Set limits with your coaching/consulting clients before you even engage them. Put these limits in writing and get their verbal and even written agreement to abide by them. Limits on how often they can postpone before you sever the relationship; on the latest they can send you an assignment; what you will do if they fail to work with you in a timely manner, etc.

Do you have clients routinely appear late at your session appointments? Or let you know rather late that they have to cancel? How about those who have an excuse for not having done the assignment they agreed to do the week before? Or, if, as in my case, their assignment is a written one–they send it to you two hours before your scheduled appointment instead of a full day before? And do you have a tangent-runner? Someone who talks much too long? And even on a topic unrelated to your sessions?

If you haven’t met any such client, you will. I’ve met them all after ten years, and you want to be prepared with each one of these scenarios (and any others) by setting parameters before you begin coaching them. And each one (except the last) must be met with a hard consequence if they do it more than once. Tell them up-front that you allow them to be late only once, and after that,  either 1) you’ll charge them $20 or 2) double the time they were late and subtract that from the call. So, late 5 minutes? You’ll get off 10 minutes early. I don’t recommend that you tell them that the session will end at its regularly scheduled time no matter how late they are because a) you may be the type to go over-time, so that won’t mean anything, and b) it won’t stop the behavior. Make the consequence tough to stop the behavior.

Which leads to the other issues. Make sure you tell them that they are charged if they fail to cancel within 18-24 hours, whatever feels best to you. AND tell them up front that this will be the case even if it’s a heart-rending story! You’ll get pulled into empathy and compassion otherwise and fold like a stack of cards–and miss an opportunity to have scheduled someone else.

What if they don’t do their assignment? Remember: a consequence that will change their behavior. But your reputation is at stake with this one, as well.  The fact is, you’re not going to have success stories if clients don’t do their work. So, your future directly hinges on their following through with their commitments. I’d get really tough here, right at the outset. Tell them that if they come to an appointment without their homework, you will 1) cancel the session and they’ll pay for it, or 2) after 2x, you’ll cancel the relationship, with no refund of any previous payment.

And remember, do this before you start and get their agreement in writing.

How to ward off a tangential talker? Well, hopefully you’ll never know you have one of you tell them up front that you are dedicated to giving your clients the very best of your time and so you have a policy that if anyone goes off-topic, you will steer the ship back on course and to please not take offense if you cut them off. If you say this in the beginning, before you know them at all, they won’t take it personally.

Be sure to get all 75 tips from my 14-page special report here.

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