From Doormat to Most Wanted Writer

Years ago when I worked at an advertising agency, I had a sign on my desk that read,
 

“I can only please one person per day.

Today is not your day.

Tomorrow is not looking good, either.”

It was meant to be a humorous reminder of demanding clients who walk all over you; you know those clients who always expect too much and complain too much, the more you bend over backwards? Instead, hold fast to your company’s ideals and stand your ground to earn the respect – and repeat business – of your customers. Setting boundaries of what you will and won’t do can save a lot of time, aggravation and lost profits in the long run. Surprisingly enough, setting boundaries will also make your customers MORE HAPPY. For example, let’s say you have a customer who repeatedly pushes deadlines by several days past their due date and then expects you to deliver their product immediately. Although you must have some flexibility in dealing with clients, you must never let them develop the ‘spoiled child’ syndrome. You know, those kids who always ask for bigger and better presents every time their parents take them to the store? They come to expect and demand the spoiling to continue. Clients can also become like spoiled children if you let them.

I know firsthand because in my early days of owning a business, I used to be one of those “Yes” people. I never said no to clients, and instead ran myself ragged. I stayed up every night until 2 or 3 a.m. to accommodate clients who needed ‘emergency’ graphic design or writing jobs by the next morning. You know what? They were rarely happy, and neither was I. Because of rushing, things were sloppy and there was no control over the quality. I’m sure you can think of examples for your business, too.

The reason why I did it was simple. I was afraid to lose their business. When you have a small company, you can’t afford to lose any business. Nor have mad clients. So finally, I learned to set some boundaries and tell clients what I could – and couldn’t do. Then a strange thing happened. I got MORE business! I got more respect. I got more work than I could possibly handle. I had to hire employees. I could pick and choose jobs I wanted to do, or not do. I turned work away. If a job was too cheap or too demanding, I simply said, “I’m sorry but due to the workload I have, I will not be able to get to yours until xx date.” Some of them actually said that was okay and waited! You see, I transitioned from being a doormat to getting the respect and trust that I deserved.

Here’s how you handle the great client who pushes your buttons, without pissing them off and still maintaining their business. “I know you’ve been too busy to get to this project and I will turn it around for you as fast as possible. However, because it is xx days past our deadline, I don’t want to sacrifice the quality by rushing too much, so realistically it will be xx day before I can have it finished.” This sets a boundary and gives the customer an expectation – of yours – that must be met. In the future, perhaps the customer will be more conscious of your time if they want the service or product sooner. If you cater to them by saying “No problem” long after the deadline, then they will never adhere to your deadlines and will always expect their jobs to be rushed and put ahead of other clients. Why should your other customers have to wait just because the spoiled child customer wants to get his way?