5 Out of 10 Crucial Clauses for Setting Boundaries with Clients (Part 2)
Are you struggling with setting boundaries with clients that are highly demanding or slow? 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.
Slow or demanding clients without boundaries can turn your dream business into hell, and if you’re anything like me, you want to be setting boundaries with clients from the start so you’ll only have smooth client relationships. As a lawyer myself who creates contracts for entrepreneurs like you, I am sharing exactly what crucial clauses you need for setting boundaries with clients and protecting your time, energy and money.
You will learn about the exact clauses you need for setting boundaries with clients, including crucial professional boundaries examples, and what to do when clients overstep boundaries.
After learning the essential clauses for setting boundaries with clients, you will be fully protected against slow and demanding clients and create smooth client relationships!
This post is all about the crucial clauses for setting boundaries with clients to protect your time, energy, and your dream business.
Essentials for Setting Boundaries with Clients
5 crucial clauses and what to do when clients overstep boundaries
These next five clauses for setting boundaries with clients are just 5 out of 10 crucial clauses you need. Read about the other 5 in this blog post on the 5 Out of 10 Practical Clauses to Set Crucial Boundaries with Clients (Part 1).
1. Outline the client’s responsibilities
When it comes to setting boundaries with clients, it’s not only important to be granular about your own responsibilities and the limits thereof (about which I’ve gone into depth in Part 1), but you must also highlight the responsibilities of your client.
Demanding and slow-paced client will change their tune once they realise that for you to provide great service, it requires a team effort. They need to cooperate, act in a timely manner, and give you what you need to deliver excellence.
Thus, it’s crucial to have clauses in your contract specifying exactly what you require from your client. What you need from your client will depend on your niche and the type of service you’re providing. Here are some examples:
Suppose you are a social media manager managing a client’s Instagram. In that case, your social media management agreement should include a clause stating that your client must provide you with the photos and videos you will use for their Instagram posts and reels.
Suppose you are a coach doing one-on-one coaching with a client. Then, your coaching agreement should state that the client (1) is obliged to attend each coaching session and (2) must make sure that the client is available for however many coaching sessions per week or month you have agreed on.
Suppose you are a videographer shooting a video for a client at a location. Your videography agreement should specify what equipment or materials your client must bring to the location.
With these responsibilities lined out in your contract, your clients will understand what their responsibilities are, and won’t ask things from you that clearly they need to arrange.
2. Set deadlines for your client
The next crucial element for setting boundaries with clients is deadlines for your clients.
Too often, I see deadlines for when the service provider must hand in their deliverables to the client. As if you are the only one with homework, and you’re at your client’s mercy when it comes to the approval of your deliverables? When you’re dealing with slow-paced clients, that will drive you insane.
Therefore, your contracts should include deadlines for whatever task your client has, like in the following cases:
Suppose you are an influencer and you are collaborating with a brand. Then, your brand sponsorship agreement should specify within how many days the brand must approve your content.
Suppose you are a commercial photographer and you did a photo shoot for an ad campaign for a client. Then, your photography agreement should specify within how many days after you have sent the photos, your client must provide feedback on your photos.
3. Set consequences for when clients do not meet deadlines and responsibilities
The next essential element in setting boundaries with clients is the consequences when clients do not meet their deadlines or responsibilities. Deadlines and other responsibilities do not mean anything when clients miss or overstep boundaries without consequences.
Suppose you are providing deliverables to your client, and such deliverables are subject to their approval, or they must provide feedback before a deadline specified by you. However, your client does not respond before that deadline but a day or several days after that or not at all.
Your services agreement should include at least the following consequences for when clients overstep boundaries:
The consequence you should have included in your contract is that the deliverable will be considered approved. That means you have completed your services, and you are entitled to payment, even if the client decides too late that revisions need to be made.
Your contract should, therefore, also include a fee clause stating that you may charge an additional fee if you do decide to make those revisions anyway, despite your client being late with their feedback.
4. When things get bad: Suspension and termination options
But what if your client is not cooperating at all or your client is being a total jerk toward you? Or what if your client is disparaging your reputation by stating on social media that your services are not worth the money when you have actually gone above and beyond trying to make this client happy?
For those situations when clients overstep boundaries to the point of no return, you need to include the following:
Your contract should include a general obligation for the client to provide full cooperation in order for you to be able to provide your services.
Warranties and representations should be included according to which your client agrees not to hurt you or your business in any way, including prohibitions to disrespect, harm, discriminate, etc., you or your business.
A termination clause must be included stating that if your client breaches any of the obligations, including payment obligations, deadlines, warranties or representations in your contract, you have the right to terminate the agreement.
All three elements are essential elements for setting boundaries with clients.
However, not all breaches of the contract are unforgivable to the extent that the contract must immediately be terminated. Sometimes, clients make mistakes, or they learn from their behaviours and promise to correct what they did wrong.
For those cases, you should also include a clause entitling you to suspend the contract instead of terminating it. That means you have the right to stop your services until your client acts in accordance with the contract again. For example, if your client is late with paying you for whatever reason, you can withhold from delivering your deliverables (until past the original deadline set) until your client pays you.
When setting boundaries with clients, we can also give them grace (without letting them completely off the hook).
5. Cancellation and rescheduling policy
The last but not least crucial clause for setting boundaries with clients is the cancellation and rescheduling policy. Your time is literally money. When your client cancels or reschedules at the last minute without any consequences, that is wasted time that you could have used to help another client.
That is why you need to have a cancellation and rescheduling policy in which you specify the following:
First of all, you need to specify if appointments may be cancelled and/or rescheduled once they have already been scheduled. You might be a very busy person and you might not even want to provide your clients the opportunity to mess with your schedule. That’s your prerogative. They snooze, they lose! But this must be explicitly stated in your contract.
If you want to give your clients the option to cancel their appointments with you as long as they’re far enough in advance, you must explicitly state until what point in time they ultimately may do so. Is that up to 24 hours prior to the appointment, or 36 or 48?
The same applies to rescheduling options. Until when may your clients reschedule appointments with you? That way, slow-paced and flakey clients will know that if they’re too late, they won’t get a second chance or a refund.
Another crucial element you need to add is the number of times clients are permitted to cancel and/or reschedule appointments. If your client has to cancel or reschedule only twice in 6 months, that might not be such an issue for you. However, if your client keeps cancelling or rescheduling every other appointment, that client can become a thorn in your side. Therefore, it’s also important to specify how many times they get to use the cancellation of rescheduling card.
These are some of the essential clauses you need in your service agreement. Are you in need of a proper service agreement that includes all these essentials for setting boundaries with clients and more for your specific niche? I sell all kinds of niche-specific contract templates in my contract shop for creators and entrepreneurs like you.
Explore my service agreements in my contract shop!
Additional 5 steps used for setting boundaries with demanding clients or slow ones
In this blog post, I discussed just 5 out of the 10 crucial clauses for setting boundaries with clients.
Part 1 of this series includes the other 5 steps used for setting boundaries with demanding clients and slow ones.
Find out about the other 5 critical clauses in this blog post on the 5 Out of 10 Practical Clauses to Set Crucial Boundaries with Clients (Part 1).
In that blog post, I discuss how to create the perfect scope, including maximum times, limits on communication tools, specifying what’s not included in the scope, and changes and additions to the scope—everything you need for setting boundaries with clients.
Niche-specific professional boundaries examples
Want to learn more about setting boundaries with clients in your specific niche? I provide more professional boundaries examples for all types of niches on my blog. Here are just a few to read next:
7 Crucial Boundaries Every Freelancer Needs in a Freelance Contractor Agreement
10 Vital Boundaries Every Online Coach Must Set in a Coaching Contract Template
9 Crucial Boundaries to Set in Your Digital Marketing Services Agreement to Protect Your Freedom
This post was all about the essential clauses for setting boundaries with clients so that you’ll create smooth client relationships and protect your energy, time, and joy in your business.
Read Part 1 for setting boundaries with clients in this blog post on the 5 Out of 10 Practical Clauses to Set Crucial Boundaries with Clients (Part 1).
Do you need a contract with all the boundaries you need? Get my contract templates for your specific services in my contract shop!
