3 Things to Set Boundaries Around with Your Clients
One of the #1 questions I get when someone is thinking about starting their business as a virtual assistant is around client boundaries.
I think the name “assistant” can sometimes pull a certain type of stereotype that maybe we have been conditioned to believe in movies or whatever the case might be where the assistant is just at the mercy of the person who has hired them and they are running themselves ragged trying to please their boss. The Devil Wears Prada, anyone?
But in this day in age, especially in the online space, bringing on a virtual assistant is less about having an “assistant” and more about having a “team member”. I think we are at a point where when a business owner hires a VA, they think of them more as their equal and while they are in a supporting role in the client’s business, they are also in fact, also running THEIR OWN business. Now there are outliers out there that don’t think this way, unfortunately. And that’s why I think it is especially important to set boundaries with your clients from the very beginning. I am talking, like, before you even book a discovery call, you are talking about your boundaries. More on this later.
There are a few different things to set your boundaries around, but to me, the most important are:
❋ Scope of Work
❋ Communication
❋ Work hours and availability
So we are going to talk about each of these, and not only why it’s important to have boundaries and expectations around them, but also, I am going to teach you some tangible ways you can actually go about setting the boundaries themselves!
The first thing you want to set boundaries in is the scope of work. This means from the get-go, you are making sure that potential clients know what your services are, what is included in your package, and even what you feel comfortable doing! Even if you are someone that can do and does offer a variety of services, it’s important to get really clear with the client before and after you start working together!
The first way to do this is on your inquiry form – ask the potential client what tasks they are looking to delegate or what services they are interested in. This gives you a general idea before your discovery call.
Then on your discovery call – ask again the client what it is they are looking for and be honest if those are services you offer. I have found most of the time the client will get more specific on the call or maybe even think of something else since filling out the form so get down to the nitty-gritty.
If they said they need social media management services, ask them what social media management services look like to them! If that is something you offer, let them know as well what is included in your package.
Then if you both decide to move forward, you’re going to set the scope of work expectations again in the contract. I think getting as specific as possible in your contract is critical – instead of saying “email management” or something generalized, say “20 minutes of email management per day M-F” or if you are helping with content or writing emails it could be something like “4 emails per month (1 x per week)”.
In addition to listing out and getting specific about your services, there should be a clause or some wording in your contract that states if the client goes over hours or they want additional work, that work will be billed separately at _____ (your hourly rate).
Honeybook has contract templates built into their system, but I also have purchased contract templates from a couple of different places and the ones I have found are the most user-friendly when it comes to really understanding the template and knowing what to edit have from Paige at The Legal Paige, I will link her Instagram in the description below. Regardless of if you use Honeybook or a contract template from a lawyer, you are going to have to edit it and I just find that Paige and her team have done a great job of explaining what to put where and if or why it’s essential to have certain details, etc.
The next thing you are going to want to set boundaries around is communication. This looks different for everyone, but I will just tell you what I do and what I recommend personally.
When we are talking about communication we are really talking about how and when you are communicating with your clients. I personally use Voxer to communicate with really anyone, including my clients, if it’s work-related. Voxer is a free app that you can text or send voice messages.
It’s set up kinda as a walkie talkie and it’s super user-friendly.
Anyway, deciding how you would like to communicate with your clients is important. If you are doing a lot of day-to-day activities, I wouldn’t recommend email just because people aren’t ways in their email throughout the day and if you have just a simple heads up or question, sending an email seems like it would take a lot of time and effort.
But on the flip side, I don’t recommend giving your personal phone number to text either. I think this is a hard no for me because work/life balance is so important to me. I don’t have my notifications for Voxer turned on, so I don’t go in there a couple of times a day to answer any messages or send messages to people or clients, and then when I am in mom mode, I am not getting bombarded with work communication.
Along with the form of communication, I think hours of communication are important to let your client know about as well. Something like “you will answer messages or be available between the hours of 9-3 M-F” or whatever the case might be”. I would put this in your contract and in your onboarding email as well just so your client is aware.
Last but not least, the third thing to set boundaries around are your work hours and availability. This is something you can talk about both on social media when you are marketing your services, again on your discovery call when you are talking to the potential client about what it would be like to work with you, and then again in your contract and onboarding emails!
So for example, right now I typically only work 4 days a week, M-Thursday, between the hours of 9:30 and 2:30. So I would communicate that to my clients! Fridays I do still answer emails during nap time, but I don’t do any tasks or projects. Another part of that is I only do calls on Tuesdays or Thursdays.
There was a point in my business that I didn’t have childcare and had my son home with me full time so I worked during pockets of my day around nap time or after bedtime or maybe for an hour or so if we went to the gym and he was playing in the kids camp area. And I also communicated that with clients! I am pretty sure I said something along the lines of “I work M-F but my hours vary each day. However, work will always be done on or before the deadline agreed upon.”
Also, I did put something in there about if someone needed something that wasn’t a part of our typical daily or weekly tasks I would need at least 24 business hours to complete that task. If it was urgent, let me know and I could see if we could work it in. This was to prevent something along the lines of, “Hey can you do this thing for me right now” but I was in the process of being done for the day or setting the expectation that I am not always available.
And none of this wasn’t a surprise to anyone when we started working together, because I talked about this on my social media often – so they saw what my work structure looked like.
Plus, the work always gets done when it needs to be done – and it’s always done well! I have a VA myself and she is a stay-at-home mama and I know that she works when her son naps and then after he goes to bed. I don’t have any issues with that because the work always gets done, and done well. And I think most clients are like that! And if they aren’t, maybe they aren’t your ideal client, ya know?
And there you have it! 3 things to set boundaries around with your clients!
I think it's important to note that a lot of scope creep or expectations not being met in a client/service provider relationship is because those expectations were not clearly communicated and agreed upon. I mean, isn’t that the case in non-working relationships as well? Haha.
But most people are really respectful of other people's boundaries! And they likely have their own too, OR I think people are also inspired by other people who have clear boundaries because they want to have them too.
So just having those conversations is a crucial part of having a successful business. And you don’t have to come at it in like, a defensive way – where you are putting walls up. You can set boundaries and expectations in a way that is just simple, kind and allows both you and your client to do your best work! Plus setting (and actually enforcing) your boundaries is one thing that is going to prevent you from overworking and feeling really burnt out, and I want you to do this forever and ever, so you have to build a strong foundation first and this is part of that!
Alright, this is all I have for you today! If you found this blog post super helpful, I would love it if you could screenshot your phone screen right now and share it on Instagram, tagging me at @yourbehindthescenesbff!
Links & Mentions
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