I’ve always been a positive person. I love being helpful, making people happy. When I discovered the world of Virtual Assistants, I was instantly captivated. Helping solopreneurs and small business owners grow their business, become more successful, more profitable – it lights a fire in me that still burns bright today, twelve years after launching Create 2 Sell.
That doesn’t mean it’s always been easy to stay positive and helpful. The first few years I just didn’t know how to say no – I didn’t want to say no. I ended up working nights, weekends, holidays. Any time of day or night I would respond to clients or their customers. And I almost burned myself out. I’m guessing since you’re reading this, it’s a problem for you as well. So here’s some good news – you can say no and keep your sanity while keeping your clients happy!
How does this magic work? Here are some tips I’ve learned the hard way:
1. Phrase It Positively – Let’s say you have a client that is always approaching you with last minute, urgent projects. Now from experience you’ve learned that this client usually knows about them ahead of time but they invariably wait until the last possible moment and then expect you to push all of your other clients’ work to the side and scramble to completely juggle around your work schedule. We all have clients like this and most freelancers I speak with say to just phase them out of your client list (which is, to be fair, sometimes the only solution). However, I’ve learned to lead with, “I’d love to do that project for you but my schedule is so loaded right now that I just couldn’t give it the time and attention it deserves and still maintain the projects I’ve already committed to.”
If you really want to help them but are just so frustrated that their work always comes to you in this manner, you can do a few things:
- Create a structure of “rush” fees for overnight, late notice, or weekend work. Make it substantial enough to not only cover the stress upon you for having to juggle your workload but enough to make your client hesitate and consider how, in the future, they might better manage getting work to you. Let the client know, “Under our current rate agreement, this project would not be financially viable for me. If you really want me on this project, we’re going to have to come up with a new fee agreement.” Keep in mind, there are times when it actually is an emergency and they don’t have any more notice than they’ve given you (website goes down, software crashes, those lovely technological snafus that sometimes just happen). You have to balance being the caped crusader that swoops in to save the day for those times when it actually is a superhero worthy need. Use your best judgment.
- Offer your organizational expertise. Help them set up some sort of project management schedule or software or even run it for them. As projects come up, work with them on a timeline for all of their freelancers or staff for each step of the project and once confirmed, help them send out notices to those people that “this is coming” and to set aside some time for it from this period to that period.
2. Offer Alternatives – Using positive language (no one likes to hear the word “no” – it’s just ingrained into our DNA) offer them another option or an alternative. For example, if your client wants something out of your area of expertise, let them know it’s not in your skill set but offer to do the research for them and give them 3-4 options in that field that they can choose from. This is why it’s a good idea to have joint venture partners – experts in areas adjacent and complimentary to yours that you can refer when needed.
3. Be Polite, But Firm – The best advice I can give is to be clear, concise and honest. One of the most difficult adjustments I had to make going into the freelance world was to remind myself that this is not an employer/employee relationship. This is a contractor/contractee relationship … meaning you are both business owners and are partnering on a project. You should be respectful of their business and they should be respectful of yours.
At the end of the day, you are the one responsible for your own revenue, growth, expense, ROI, and profit/loss margin. Just because you may not be able to help this particular client with this particular project doesn’t mean you can’t help them find someone who can or offer them alternative solutions. Approach every venture with a positive, can-do attitude but with a realistic understanding of what you can or can’t, will or won’t do and let your clients down gently, with class, and without burning any bridges behind you.
Until next time, to your success!
Paige Jackson
Create 2 Sell