¶ Managing Client Micromanagement
We are back for day two with our fabulous guest co-host of the week , Jennifer Goforth Gregory . As you listen to today's episode , I'm hoping that you'll walk away with one really important idea . There is no one way to run a business . You need to make your business your own .
You need to learn all of the things from all of the amazing people out there like Jennifer , but in the end , you need to tailor your business and how you deal with your clients to your personality and your business style . You do that so that you can grow a business that you love , and that's what really matters .
Let's dive right in to today's question , which is all about clients , who tend to micromanage the process . If you're a freelancer , business owner or anyone who deals with clients , you're in the right place . I'm your host , teresa Edmond .
I've been dealing with clients and running my business for nearly two decades and in that time I've dealt with my share of doubt , imposter syndrome and not knowing what to say when a client asks a question . I wasn't ready for . I created this podcast to empower you with the boss responses you need to grow your business .
Each week , my guest co-host and I will bring you five episodes packed with practical insights . Monday through Thursday we answer your questions , and Fridays we dive deep to explore how our co-host embraced their role as the boss of their business . Welcome to Boss Responses . My special guest host this week is Jennifer Goforth-Greggery , and we are on day two .
Jennifer , what is the question ?
So this is one that I've heard a lot as well . A writer will come up to me and say that they are new to freelancing and they've got a situation they don't know what to do , and I often hear that they're excessively micromanaging the project .
They tell me that they know the design is important and they want to make sure that their clients are happy , but they're constantly getting requests to update some changes , which is making it hard to be creative and productive .
I've heard from some writers today that maybe they're sensitive because their last boss was a micromanager and this isn't really what they want us to be in a freelancer . Is there a way to address it while still maintaining a positive relationship with the client ? What do you think ?
Yes and no . It can go either way , because sometimes the professional or positive relationship with the client doesn't depend on you . Sometimes it depends on the client . This is a boundaries issue . It sounds like they're treating the people more like an employee than an expert , which is what freelancers are , and I see this a lot .
I got into learning about client management because I had the most toxic of all toxic clients . Communication is what you need . I recommend that people stop situations like this before they start by doing client management from their very first communication . So that might be your discovery call . Set the tone on that , Set yourself up as an expert and then go on .
In this situation where it's already happening . This is not usually something you can deal with in an email . You need to schedule a call with the client and say we're having a bit of a working issue and then make yourself a bullet point at agenda and go down it .
Just make sure you hit all of your points , Say I know that you really want this project to go well . Let's go through all of your expectations and concerns so that I can make sure I have those front of mind . So I'm going to list your expectations and concerns .
Really clearly delineate to them what your communication policy is , how often you're going to respond to them and how long it's going to take . I also recommend you never give them your cell phone number . Have a Google voice number if you want to . So those are my things . How do you deal with it , Jennifer ?
So I take the absolute opposite approach , the two things . One is I respond immediately to every client . I try to get back with them pretty quickly and I give clients cell phone numbers all the time .
I don't have the energy and time to set boundaries with people , so I only work with people that aren't going to be a pain in the butt and I know other writers will schedule emails . I'm not going to do that . If I see it in the middle of the night , I'm going to respond and my clients know I get back with them quickly when I can .
And if I don't get back , it means I'm not available right that minute and they don't . People say that they expect it , but I don't think they do . I think it means they know I'm responsive and if I don't , then that means there's a reason and if someone can't be reasonable to work with , I just don't work with them anymore .
I'm pretty hard and fast on that . The other thing that I would . So in this case , what I would do is step back and see if there's something easy that you can do to fix it . I also offer unlimited revisions and I market myself as that .
However , in the opening call I say offer unlimited visions , however , to get , and what that means is , if I don't meet your expectations , I'm going to work on it until I get it what you want . However , what that doesn't mean is that doesn't mean you can change things unlimited times , and I say here the ways that I work to get . That is one .
Every person who needs to sign off on something must look at it in the beginning .
We're going to have review cycles .
We're not just going to , we're not just going to change things , and I do an outline , especially with a micromanaging client . I do an outline and everybody has to look at it and I typically only have one or two review cycles , even on big projects .
I also require that , if there's multiple reviewers , that a client person goes through it and figures out what I need to do , because that's not my job to manage their internal politics . Someone needs to go through and figure out which ones are just people arguing with each other and which ones to fix .
But I want to point out , those are really strong boundaries and you set them up at the very beginning , so you still set up the client management , so that you don't have to deal with this after the fact .
Correct . But my boundaries are that when someone respects that and I like them , I don't mind getting back with them because yet correct . And so it's setting the boundaries that matter to you . I could not , I would go nuts if I scheduled emails or didn't respond . I would forget .
And so the whole point is you have to do what works for you and your personality and your productivity and what makes you happy , what makes you do your best work . And if a client isn't helping create that environment for you , I don't think you should work with them , because a client that's not a fit for you .
You earn so much less money than one that's a fit . But yeah , you're correct , it's boundaries , but my boundaries are different than other people's . Most of my clients have myself as , but guess what ? They don't use them . Yeah , yeah , because I only pick clients that aren't going to send me stupid tax .
And that's what you do . I have a Google voice number for my business because I was choosing clients who I would fall into this situation . I'm friendly , I'm a friendly person and they take that friendliness as the ability to take advantage sometimes , which I have learned over time not to do that .
I choose clients now who respect me and then they raise the level of the conversation , which that's a huge bet . When I was starting out and I kept getting in these micromanaging situations Because I wasn't setting boundaries , I was giving them way too much freedom . And now Client management to me is not about a power play .
It is about setting up a relationship where both parties are getting absolutely the most out of the situation . So to me , that's what it is , and a lot of people I'm like you need to manage your clients and they're like power play , I'm going to tell my client what to do .
No , that is the wrong thing to do and that's the wrong thing in this situation , even in this conversation , because you're already in the middle of it .
You need to find a win situation for this , find a compromise , and then at the end of the project you decide did the client kind of shape up and we're going to be able to work together in the future , or do we just walk away after this one ?
Exactly , and I wanted to come up mention one other thing . We talked about changes . So when I said I do unlimited revisions , that's different than change of scope , and I have that conversation right up front . And so I say so . I always have a conversation with a client .
I see if they're a fit for me personally , If I don't like them , then I'm not going to work with them . And then I talk about this and , depending on their reaction , if they're like , oh my gosh , that's how I like to work , then I'll work with them . If they're not for it , I usually say no .
But what I also say is so unlimited revisions doesn't mean you can change the scope . I said what I do is once we get into change I know changes happen and that's part of it .
I said , however , what I do is I go back and I look at their original assignment and I look at where we are now and if the assignment would be pretty different than where we have landed , then there's going to be a change of scope conversation .
And just know that when I bring that up , that that's what that is , and I say I've only had to do that a few times , but when I do , the client always agrees with me that , yes , we have interchange of scope .
And the other thing that I recommend is , if you walk away from a situation , it's really easy to think either you suck or the client sucks , and it's actually neither . It's just that you're not a fit . And so what I always do let's say you walk away because the micromanaging isn't right .
I go back and I sit down and I think about signs that I could have caught from the beginning that we weren't a fit , and I use that to refine my client picking process .
Yeah , that's important , right there .
But it's so easy to say this is a bad client or I suck , and neither one helps you learn and grow and pick clients better than are fit for you , your ideal clients different than my ideal client and we really all of us .
The way you make money is by working with clients where you're gonna be their favorite freelancer , and the best way that you figure that out is by picking the wrong ones .
Yeah , yeah , and you learn that's part of being a professional , and anyone listening to this podcast that's a freelancer . You're a business owner . You need to improve your business practices constantly in order to grow your business to whatever point you wanna grow it to . There's no right or wrong with this .
There are wrong ways to deal with clients , but when it comes to how you deal with them , as you have really strong client management practices and you strive to constantly improve those over time , then it's going to end up in win situations , one after another , and then eventually you're going to have your rosters so full of referred clients that you're not going
to have to look for clients anymore . That's just the way it works .
Lately , I agree . The one thing I do wanna caution people is so people do what works for you , because don't be afraid to do things that seem different because it's against the rules . Do what works for you . I do things so weird than other freelancers and that is totally fine because it works for me .
And you have to have the courage to design the business that's uniquely fit for you and that is where you make the money , that is where you're happy and that is where you do your best work .
But you have to be willing to listen to other freelancers , take the ideas , listen to us , but ultimately have the courage to do what's the unique fit for your strengths , weaknesses , personality and goals .
Only set stronger boundaries if you need to .
¶ Setting Boundaries and Finding Respectful Clients
I completely agree that is a very good way of saying that and work to find clients that naturally respect your boundaries , because you work similarly .
Absolutely All right . Thank you , Jennifer . I'll talk to you on the next question tomorrow . Thank you for joining us today . We hope you enjoyed this episode and that you'll join us for future episodes of Boss Responses . If you would like to learn more about Jennifer and the resources she's currently offering , check out the show notes for the episode .