The Client Letter
October 30, 2013
The Desert of Arizona
Dark 33 Degrees
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Kind of a Birthday celebration where you benefit!
Most of the products are $97 so it’s pretty straightforward. Simply place your order. Then when you get the receipt in your email, reply and let me know what other product(s) you would like. Don’t miss out!
Boundaries are a very important thing for a service provider. There should be things you are not willing to do. Fees you are not willing to accept. Projects you are not willing to undertake. Terms to which you are not willing to commit.
Boundaries give you control, because boundaries offer you a simple way to make decisions. Without them, you’re basically out there swimming in a big ocean. There’s ocean as far as your eyes can see with absolutely no land in sight. Basically, you work hard but never, ever get anywhere.
One day you turn this way, the next day you turn the other way. You end up going in circles without even knowing it.
Of course we all HAVE boundaries in our business. There are those things for you, and you probably already know what they are.
The trick is not to cross those boundaries. The trick is to be able to say “No,” when a prospect or client walks up to those boundaries with an intention of crossing one of them.
The challenge isn’t creating the boundaries, it’s enforcing them.
My history is riddled with episodes where I did not make boundaries clear with clients, did not sound the alarm when someone crossed them, did not reinforce them when someone crashed through.
I just allowed it. And I swallowed the resentment (for myself) that that produced.
But I’m getting better. 🙂
“I know you charge 10X, but will you do it for 1X?”
No I will not.
I know this sounds obvious, but when you reinforce a boundary, it gets stronger. Protecting it the NEXT time becomes even easier.
To protect your boundaries, you simply have to be willing to say “This far you may come and no farther.” (That’s right out of the Bible by the way.)
Some people will not like this. Some people who COULD have given you money will go away. Some people who WOULD have hired you will turn back annoyed.
That’s really why we avoid the boundaries isn’t it? To save ourselves from the discomfort of that tension.
That’s why I did it.
My training was so complete that I’d rather betray myself over and over again than endure the discomfort of knowing someone wasn’t pleased with me.
Yuck!
Clear up your boundaries and protect them like your life depends on it. Do it without fear. Your actual life might not hang in the balance here, but your happiness and success sure do.