3d • General discussion
Lesson 4: The Day 1 Guardrail (How to Train Your Client)
In Lesson 3, we talked about the Master Spreadsheet. It’s your shield. But even the best shield is useless if you let the client walk right around it and poke you in the ribs at 9:00 PM on a Sunday.
The biggest mistake freelancers and agency owners make isn't being "bad at the work." It’s being too available. You think you’re providing "great customer service." In reality, you are training your client to disrespect your time. If you answer a text at 10:00 PM on a Tuesday, you have officially told that client: "My time is worth nothing, and I am always on call."
To survive the project, you have to set the guardrails before the first invoice is even paid.
Here is how you set boundaries from Day 1:
1. Kill the "Quick Question" Text
Texting is for friends, family, and food delivery. It is not for project management. The moment a client texts you a project update, the "Single Source of Truth" we built in Lesson 3 dies. Information gets lost. Expectations get blurred.
The Rule: If it’s not in the official channel (email or the Master Spreadsheet), it didn’t happen.
How to say it: "To make sure nothing slips through the cracks, I keep all project communication in [Email/Slack]. I don't check texts for work, so if you send something there, I’ll likely miss it!"
2. Establish the "Response Window"
You are a specialist, not an emergency room doctor. Unless you are managing a nuclear power plant, nothing is so urgent that it requires a 5-minute response time.
If you respond instantly every time, the client begins to panic when you take two hours to reply. You’ve created a "responsiveness debt" that you can never pay off.
The Rule: Set a clear window for updates.
- The Window: "I check and respond to emails twice a day (10 AM and 4 PM)."
- The Result: You get deep work blocks. The client gets predictable communication. Everyone wins.
3. The "Emergency" Definition
Clients love the word "urgent." Usually, "urgent" just means "I forgot to do this until now."
On Day 1, define what a true emergency is.
- Standard Request: Handled within 24–48 hours.
- True Emergency: The website is literally down or the payment processor is broken.
If they try to bypass the Master Spreadsheet with a "quick emergency" that isn't an emergency, refer them back to the grid.
4. Professionalism is Predictability
Boundaries don't make you a jerk. They make you a pro. Think about your doctor or your lawyer. Do they pick up the phone at 11 PM to discuss a minor detail? No. And you respect them more for it, not less.
When you set boundaries, you aren't "restricting" the client; you are providing them with a structured environment where the work can actually get done.
The Bottom Line: You don’t get the respect you deserve; you get the respect you enforce. Set the guardrails today, or prepare to be run over tomorrow.
Next Step: Look at your last three client interactions. Did you break one of your own rules? Reply and tell me which boundary you're going to "reset" this week.
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Lesson 4: The Day 1 Guardrail (How to Train Your Client)
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