KimNO – It’s all about Boundaries and Self Respect
On this segment of Q & A Day, I received a question from Christina who wants to know how to deal with a client who is chronically late. She says that whenever they plan to meet, there always seems to be an excuse why she is 20-25 minutes late and sometimes cancels last minute. They have been working together for a while, and the client pays well, but she is growing extremely frustrated in this area. Another worry that she has is that if she leaves this client she might not be able to substitute the income.
I explained that this is something she needs to share with her client because she would be doing her a disservice by not addressing it. But there is also an unhealthy mindset attached to this, because Christina believes that her income and potential are attached to this client. I wonder how is this affecting Christina since she continues to put up with it, and I’m curious what other areas in her life is she allowing others to walk all over her.
What is keeping you from being respectful of yourself and her so that she can show up on time in other areas of her life? This is a matter of you having an honest conversation and asking yourself “why are you so afraid?” Is it just a fear of losing the income or is it also losing a friendship? And could there possibly be some rejection going on? Look inward, because when you begin to stand in your leadership, chances are she won’t want to leave you!
An easy way to avoid this is by letting your paperwork do the talking. Make sure that going forward your contracts have late and cancelation fees included. You could also have clients prepay for certain packages so that you can adhere to cancelation fees or offer discounts for clients who pay early. Including fees in your paperwork under policy, or terms and conditions, is the best way to resolve this problem.
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