5 Out of 10 Practical Clauses to Set Crucial Boundaries with Clients (Part 1)
Want to know how to set boundaries with clients who are slow-paced or highly demanding? I’m telling you the vital clauses you need in your contract to get the job done, protect your energy, and have happy clients with boundaries.
Having your own business is awesome, but not all clients are equally as great, and if you’re anything like me, you want to set the proper boundaries with clients to protect yourself from energy-sucking, demanding, and slow-paced clients. As a lawyer myself who creates contracts for service-based entrepreneurs like you, I am sharing exactly what practical clauses you need in your contract to set boundaries with clients and protect your time, energy and money.
You will learn about what vital boundaries with clients you need to set, including crucial professional boundaries examples specifically for service-based entrepreneurs, and what to do when clients overstep boundaries.
After learning the simple clauses you need to set boundaries with clients, you will be fully protected against slow-paced and highly demanding clients!
This post is all about the crucial clauses to implement to set boundaries with clients that are slow-paced or highly demanding so that your time, energy, and money are fully protected.
Crucial Boundaries with Clients
Clauses for setting boundaries with clients
1. Include a clause with a stupidly specific scope of work
The first thing you need to do to set boundaries with clients is to map out what is within your scope. What is the client hiring you to do?
Create a list outlining every task in your contract. When you see the examples of some of my contract templates in my contract shop, you’ll see that all my contracts show a list with every specific task outlined. That gives your client a transparent overview of what exactly they may expect from you (and what your boundaries are).
Each task must be as specific and detailed as possible. It needs to be stupidly specific. By that, I mean that you, anyone who has never even heard of your job title before, will know what that task entails. Here are two examples to give you an idea:
If you are a social media manager or digital marketer, you’ll probably be giving your client monthly reports on the stats of the social media or ads. In that case, you must specifically outline in your social media management agreement or digital marketing agreement what metrics you will include in your reports so that the client will not ask you to report on other metrics (that don’t actually matter).
If you are a UGC or content creator, specify exactly what deliverables you will be delivering to your client in your content creator agreement. Are you creating videos in Reels or TikTok format, or are you creating videos suitable for YouTube? Or are you creating pictures suitable for Instagram posts?
2. Don’t just include a number; make it a maximum
In your scope, you may have certain tasks that will have a certain duration or number to them, like:
calls/meetings,
video content you create for the client, or
other deliverables, like social media content, written content, photos, or graphic design pieces, for which revisions may be included.
You can attach a number to each of these, but it’s crucial that you specify each such number for each task as the maximum.
If you do not specify that number as the maximum, and you do not meet that number, then your client could interpret that something you still owe them. For example, if 45 minutes was agreed for a call, but the call only took 30 minutes, then your client could claim that you owe the client another call of 15 minutes to make up for the 15-minute difference. That is why you set a maximum. Then, if you end up spending less time, you don’t owe the client anything more. This is one of the most crucial boundaries with clients.
Here are some examples:
If you are a coach and you have weekly coaching calls with your client, set a maximum number of minutes for each such call in your coaching agreement.
If you are a videographer creating a video for a client, set the maximum duration for that video in your videographer agreement.
If you are a content creator, set the maximum number of revisions included in your content creator agreement.
3. Communication tools
With the digital landscape that is currently available to us, there are so many free and paid communication tools available to all of us.
When sending messages, we can choose to use text messaging, WhatsApp, emails or DMs on Instagram or LinkedIn, for example.
When calling, we can choose to use a normal voice phone call, FaceTime, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and so many other tools.
However, as a service provider servicing many different clients, you need to specify what communication tools are permitted. You need to set communication boundaries with clients. Otherwise, your client will determine for you what communication tool they prefer. But, especially when it comes to online meetings, you don’t want to be constantly switching between tools.
Therefore, all my contract templates specify the following:
All communication must be sent by email, and you must specify which email address your client must send all communications to. That way, you only have one place in which all written communications with your client are saved. You don’t want to have to search through your Instagram DMs and WhatsApp messages for any input or materials your client has provided you.
In your scope, you must specify exactly what communication tool is used for your virtual meetings or calls. Also, I’ve included in my contract templates that you are entitled to determine that a different communication will be used at your sole discretion. You never know when one of your tools start crashing, so you need the flexibilty to switch. But again, that should not be determined by your client.
That’s how you set communication boundaries with clients.
4. Specify what is not included in the scope
Even if you are very specific about what each task within your scope entails, some demanding clients will still assume certain tasks are included within your scope when they are not.
That is why you need to include a clause in your contract specifying all the things that are not included within your scope. Again, you have to imagine that your client has never heard of your job title before and does not understand what you do. That’s what you always have to keep in mind when creating boundaries with clients.
And again, make it a list so that your client has a clear and transparent overview that they can’t miss.
Here are two examples of tasks that may not be within your scope:
If you are a social media manager, you could add social media advertising to your list of what is out of scope in your social media management agreement.
Suppose you are a videographer and you are not adding subtitles to your video. In that case, the client may still, for whatever reason, expect that you add subtitles because different languages are used in the video. Thus, you’ll need to include subtitles to your list of what is out of scope in your videography agreement.
Over time, you’ll find that clients expect other things that you never even thought to put on the list, and you’ll add those to the list for your next clients.
Of course, your contract should also include a “catch-all clause” (another one of the key clauses for setting boundaries with clients). This clause states that everything that is not specified in your list of what is within scope will be out of scope.
5. Changes or additions to the scope
Now that you have outlined exactly what is and is not within your scope, you need to set boundaries with clients regarding changes to the scope.
Situations change, circumstances change, preferences change, possibilities change, and peoples’ tastes change, and that can affect your relationship with your client and what the client needs from you. Sometimes, changing the scope can be beneficial to both your client and you.
So, you want to have room to both agree on changing the scope but ensure that you have certain safeguards in place so that you are not at the mercy of a demanding client determining what that’s going to look like.
So, here are some clauses you need to include to set boundaries with clients regarding changes in scope:
Explicitly state that any changes must be agreed upon in writing by both parties. This means that both of you have to agree, either by email or by an additional contract (addendum), to any changes to the scope or the timeline.
Also include an explicit statement that you, as the service provider, are under no obligation to agree to any changes. If the client has agreed to weekly coaching calls for the next three months of your coaching program but wants to change it to biweekly calls or the other way around, you do not have to agree to that. You can’t always just change your schedule for the next week.
Add in that you are entitled to charge an additional fee for any changes made (for obvious reasons).
These clauses should be included in any one-on-one service agreement you may have, whether it be a coaching agreement, content creator agreement, social media management agreement, photography agreement, freelance agreement, etc.
The other 5 crucial boundaries with clients & what to do when clients overstep boundaries
In this blog post, I discussed just 5 crucial boundaries with clients every service provider needs.
Want to know about the other 5 critical boundaries with clients you must have for a smooth relationship with your clients?
Read about the 5 other vital clauses for setting boundaries with clients in this blog post on the 5 Out of 10 Crucial Clauses for Setting Boundaries with Clients (Part 2).
In that blog post, I talk about outlining the client’s responsibilities, setting deadlines for your clients, what boundaries to include if your clients don’t meet those deadlines, cancellation and rescheduling boundaries, and clauses on what to do when clients overstep boundaries. Everything you need to include in your contract to set boundaries with clients.
Other professional boundaries examples for specific niches
Are you looking for more tips, specifically on boundaries with clients in your specific niche? Here are more blog posts on professional boundaries examples you may be interested in:
10 Vital Boundaries Every Online Coach Must Set in a Coaching Contract Template
7 Crucial Boundaries Every Freelancer Needs in a Freelance Contractor Agreement
9 Crucial Boundaries to Set in Your Digital Marketing Services Agreement to Protect Your Freedom
This post was all about the crucial clauses for setting vital boundaries with clients, protecting your energy, time, and money and ensuring happy clients.
For more boundaries to protect yourself from bad apples, read this blog post on the 7 Must-Haves You Need in a Group Coaching Agreement to Protect Yourself from Bad Apples.
Are you a freelancer? Read this blog post on the 5 Critical Protections You Need in a Freelance Service Agreement Template When Hiring a Freelancer.
Are you a content creator? Read this blog post on the 5 Major Mistakes to Avoid in Your Content Creation Contract (If You Are a Content Creator).
Check out all my contract templates for service-based entrepreneurs in my contract shop!
