ep. 049 • Storytime: Enforcing Boundaries with Clients

Chelsea: The customer is always right, but are they? 

There are few things as awkward as addressing clients who push against your boundaries as a business owner. More often than not, I hear from hennapreneurs all over that they choose to bow to the client's demands in order to maintain the peace and to avoid any scandal around their business.

You may be surprised to hear, though, that this actually isn't something that I encourage. 

In this episode, I'm sharing two recent examples of instances where enforcing boundaries with my clients came into play. You'll hear the nitty-gritty details of what happened, who said what, and how I handled each scenario.

If holding boundaries around your business is something you struggle with, grab your tea, because you're going to really enjoy this episode.

Welcome to the Hennapreneur podcast – the exclusive podcast of its kind dedicated to giving you an honest look at the realities of making a living as a henna professional. I'm your host, Chelsea Stevenson, a tea-loving, shoe-collecting mother of three in constant search for the most popping pair of earrings and the perfect shade of red lipstick.

I'm also a professional henna artist and business strategist who went from barely being able to piece together a fluid design to being the owner of the most celebrated henna boutique in my city. I'm on a mission to help henna professionals to harness their skills and grow vibrant, profitable businesses that they absolutely love.

If you want to make more money with your art, you are definitely in the right place. Let's get to it!

Hey, hey, hennapreneurs! Welcome back to another episode of the Hennapreneur podcast. 

In today's episode, I am going to take you behind the scenes, if you will, of my business. And I want to share with you about two recent instances where I experienced some challenging exchanges with clients. Both of these clients actually experienced very similar difficulties and they were both dealt with in different ways. And I want to show you a little bit of, like, what that looks like for me inside of my own business. 

I definitely do want to start just by kind of laying out an expectation. Typically, I don't experience issues with my clients. I'm really, really grateful that I get to work with really phenomenal human beings every day over at the henna boutique. And part of that has everything to do with really having honed in on who my ideal client is: what they value, how they operate. And because of that, it's really far and in between when I'll have instances where there is some sort of discord between myself and a client. 

With that said, it's totally possible for anyone, for you to, you know, encounter or become engaged with someone who perhaps isn't as much of an ideal client as you might have thought, or you might even just simply encounter someone who could be your ideal client, but they're just having a really bad day, right? Things happen. And in instances like these, it's totally possible that there may be, you know, some amount of discontent or issue, if you will, that presents itself between yourself, or your business, rather, and this person. 

And this is why it's so, so, so, so important for us to have very clearly defined policies inside of our practices. We need to have "if this, then that" sort of procedures laid out for ourselves so that we can best advocate for ourselves and our businesses and so forth. 

And so, one of the policies that I have with my clients over at the henna boutique is in relation to late arrivals and to reschedules, okay? 

So my reschedule policy is very, very clear. First of all, I do not allow–. 

Well, let me take a step back. First of all, when my clients come to visit, they actually pay in full at the time of booking. So, in order for them to access my calendar at all, they have already paid me, you know, the fee for their services, and they really just have to show up to the appointment and receive those services. And that's that, right? 

I want to give you that contextual background, because not only is that a part of my system, but as it relates to my policies, this is something that I have in place in order to protect myself and my time, because I have very strict reschedule and late arrival policies in play. 

So, over at the henna boutique, I will allow for my clients to have up to a 10-minute grace period. 10 minutes for late arrivals if they're arriving to a session late and after that, that is actually considered a cancellation. 

Now, if I have someone who reaches out and they need to reschedule and they provide me with advanced notice, then I am totally okay with that. Typically, what I do is, I have a policy in which I will allow for them to reschedule one time. And after that one time, it is then considered a cancellation if they request any additional reschedule. You know, at that point they would have to actually go in and book a new appointment entirely. 

So I'm giving you that context so that you know how my business works, because these are boundaries that I'm going to be defending, if you will, inside of these two exchanges and I want to kind of lay that groundwork for you so you know what it looks like first, okay? 

So let me take you through Storytime #1, if you will, okay? And what was interesting is that both of these experiences happened within a week. I don't know if like, you know, Mercury was in retrograde or what was going on, but there was some sort of bizarre energy and all of a sudden I got to back-to-back situations like these, that were just, you know, a little bit challenging, but here we are. 

And so–. Okay, so with the first of these clients, I was booked by a client who was going to come. She was going to arrive for an hour-long session with me, okay? And the day of her appointment, the day of her appointment, she contacted me about three hours prior to her appointment via text message.

She said to me, "Hi, I have an appointment today at 7:00 PM, but unfortunately I will not be able to make it due to a family emergency. Is there any way I could get in contact with someone to reschedule or to get a refund?" 

Now, I'm going to pause right here and let you know. She sent me this text message, but only after having called my phone three-four times, okay? Inside of my business, I actually don't provide phone support for customer service inquiries like these. And I'm very clear about that. There's a voice message that you receive when you call my business number that lets you know that if you have questions related to appointments and whatnot, that you can reach out either via email or via text message, and that phone support is provided only for those who have a scheduled consultation. And scheduled consultations are paid consultations, friends. 

So I don't spend time on the phone with my clients because it's not a good use of my time. I've built up so many resources inside of my business, that there is not a question that a client could ask that I don't have a link for. And so, when they send me an email or send me a text message, I already have responses ready to go that I can just send directly their way to point them in the right direction so that they can get the support that they need. But that does not require a phone call with me. And let's be frank, you know, during the daytime, I'm spending that time with my children. I'm a homeschooler. You know, I've got other things that I'm addressing. And if it's in the evening hours, those are times where I am, you know, I'm sitting with my clients and so I'm not going to answer my phone in order to answer a question like this when I'm serving someone. This is not something that I do either.

This person called multiple times, listened to that message multiple times, and then finally sent in this text message. So, as soon as the text message was received, within two minutes, I replied also via a text message saying, "Hey, thanks for the update. I'm happy to help with this. We can definitely reschedule your session. As a reminder–" and I pointed her back to the policy that she viewed at the time that she made her booking, "As a reminder–" you know, and I let her know that we allow for a single reschedule without penalty. And I gave her a directive and a link where she could go to see what's available so that we could get her appointment rescheduled. She never replied to this message. She never replied to this message. 

In fact, I didn't hear from her until a couple of days later. Her appointment obviously came and went; nothing was rescheduled. She called me a couple of times in between that, so like, after having received that message. And then she sent me an email, also, and the email basically said the same thing. "How can I–" you know, "What can I do with this appointment? Can someone contact me?"

And I replied to that email saying, "Hi," you know, "I received your message. Actually, I responded to your message." And I sent a screenshot, a photo and attachment of my reply to her in that email saying, 'yeah, basically, I've responded to you. You didn't say anything back. And I then, at that point, reiterated: this is what you need to do in order to reschedule. This is the policy. Here's the link. Go ahead and do that.' And she also did not reply to that email. 

So after that point, you know, I've now given you a directive via text message. I've given you a directive via email, in both of those instances, this person chose not to follow that directive and then I didn't hear from her any further after that. 

And so, about 10 days later, I received a new text message from. She said, "Hello, is there any way I can get a refund? I still have been calling and no answer." And I replied to her again, immediately, just within a matter of minutes. And I said, "Hi," you know, "I've responded to you both via text message," and I cited the date, "and via email," and I cited the date. I reiterated that phone support is not offered for matters like these as indicated on the website and on all of the booking platforms, refunds are not offered and that if she'd like to reschedule, to please follow the instructions that were provided to you previously.

At that point, she then replied and said, "Yes, I understand that, but due to my condition, I will not be able to reschedule." So here now is a red flag for me, because this is someone who contacted me to say, "I can't attend my session because there was a family emergency." She's now disregarded any directive that I've given her to actually reschedule and now she's got like, this new positioning where she has a condition that she's not going to be able to do that. 

Now, I don't know this person. I've never serviced this person before. She's a first-time, would have been a first-time guest with me at the henna boutique, so I can only take what I see at face value, and at face value, this is now looking less than honest, okay? 

So I responded back to her and I said, "I understand, and I appreciate you communicating this to me. I'll make note of the missed appointment as a cancellation so it's not outstanding on my records. Thank you."

And she replied back, almost immediately, "Okay. Thank you."

After about an hour, a little over an hour, she then sends me a new text messages saying, "So, will I be receiving a refund?" 

And I replied to her immediately saying, "No, you're welcome to review the terms of service to which you agreed upon booking, here." And I sent her a link and not only did I send her a link, I also, at that point, sent her a screenshot with my refund policy, which is very, very clear. We do not offer refunds on henna services, okay? On a bookings that are made. 

And so, at that point, I think we're done, right? Because I don't hear from her. Except for, she does come back. She comes back about an hour and a half, no, about two and a half hours later. And she says–. So at this point, not only have I sent her this via text message, I also go into my booking system and I generate a cancellation notice for her because she has, you know, at this point she's declining services. 

She can not attend, she can not reschedule. So that is what it is. So I cancel her session, which is now, like, outstanding waiting for, you know, waiting to be rescheduled to a new date, but she's declining that. So, at that point, I sent her a cancellation email. I processed the cancellation on my end. It sends her a notice, an email saying, you know, basically, thank you for letting us know that you're canceling this appointment. We hope to service you in the future, blah, blah, blah, right? And I cite in that email, you know, the fact that the offer was made to reschedule and that she has declined, okay? 

And so, she doesn't reply again to this text message for a while. About two, almost three hours pass. And then I get a new text message from her saying, "So, could my daughter just come? Because I'm not going to waste any money." 

And at this point now, like, the real thing is exposed, right? It's not–. At least from my perspective and who knows, right? Because again, I don't know her. I've never met her. This would have been our first time meeting one another, but she's not been, I'm going to say truthful, with me in her exchanges thus far, or it doesn't appear that she's been truthful with me in her exchanges thus far. And so now it's like, 'well, I don't want to waste my money' and that, to me indicates, like, we just wanted the refund. That's really what it is. 

And I typically would not be as direct as I was in the message that I'm going to share with you next, however, at this point I'm sensing that we are having a boundary issue because, one, I've got this overstep of boundary where this person is calling me back to back and, like, not honoring the method of communication that I have set up inside of my business. That is a huge red flag for me when someone does not honor the systems that I have set up, when someone does not honor and respect the boundaries of communication and the methods and the means of communication that I have set up. That tells me that they feel that they're above what, you know, above what exists for others and that they feel entitled to my time.

And this is like, when I see this, lets me know almost immediately that this is not someone who I'm going to want to work with. And it's very, very rare that my opinion changes in this circumstance, right? 

So I've already got this red flag where I've got this person who's calling me incessantly and not opting to utilize the methods of communication that I've clearly outlined that exists, you know, for my business. Also, now I've got someone who, you know, red flag number two is the story has changed. It went from a family emergency to 'I have a condition' to 'well, can someone else come in my place because I just don't want to waste my money?' because at this point it's clear to her that, you know, the service has been canceled. Like, we're done here, right? 

And so, now we're trying to come back and like, make up for it. And then, I'm also, because the tone in her message, and I tried, honestly, I try to be very cautious not to read into tone too much in text message or email because you simply don't know, right? Like, we don't know the way that the person on the other side of that divide speaks, the way that they type the way that they communicate. And so I try, when I receive text messages or when I received know any communication in writing, I try to be very open to the idea that I might assign a tone that they didn't intend, but because I've already had these red flags, I'm just very, very direct in my reply, okay? 

So, at this point, I explained, "At each time an appointment is missed, it eliminates my ability to service someone else. This is why we have a strict, no-refund policy, which is communicated openly. As a courtesy, I offer the opportunity to reschedule because I understand that life happens and in doing so, that also impacts my capacity to serve anyone else once more." Meaning, you know, just like you've blocked off this amount of time here with a scheduled appointment, I couldn't service someone else. Now I'm rescheduling it at another time, really, it's taking my time away a second time, right? And so, many times our clients don't think about this way, but we have to as the business owners and so I'm calling that to her attention, right? 

And so I go on to say, "Speaking plainly, this generosity 'wastes' my time and money, but I value my client's experience." And this is where I say, I'm a little more direct here and this exchange than I typically am. And that's because the way in which she's begun to engage me, lets me know that I have someone who is going to push and push and push, and I want to make it very clear that I am not the one, okay? If I'm just being frank. "With that said, the offer was extended to you on multiple instances," the offer to reschedule, that is, "was extended to you on multiple instances, and ultimately, you refused. I stand by my boutique's policies and I'm unable to honor your request."

Now, I sent that message at 6:22 PM on that date. And she replied to me at 9:00 PM that night. 9:00 PM that night, and said, "And that's fine, but I don't just have money to waste. So my daughter coming in my place shouldn't matter because it's my money." 

And at that point, I just entirely stopped engaging with this person. So, I did not reply again to any text message. She did not call me any further. She has not messaged me any further. She didn't email me any further at that point. But at this point, like, you're now you're contacting me at nine o'clock at night in an attempt to like bully me into saying, "Yeah, sure. I'll transfer this appointment," when I've offered multiple opportunities to reschedule, but that's not really what was wanted. The refund is what was wanted. The ignoring, if you will, of my policy is what was wanted. And I was not willing to do that, especially considering the fact that this person at this point now has been consistent in trying to overstep boundaries. So no, I'm going to take what I was paid for the time that I was there willing, able, available to help her, not only on the date of her appointment, but also on any potential other dates, right? At this point, my effort and energy that's been expended simply on engaging with this person is worth the money that was paid to me for that booking, okay? 

So that was the resolution there. And it's hardly a resolution if you will, because well, for her, it's hardly a resolution. I'm sure that she was unhappy with that resolution because it wasn't what she was looking for. And also, it was a resolution in that there was a decision that was made. The decision was very simple – this is the policy. I offered the opportunity to reschedule as per the policy. This person chose not to acknowledge the offer and then eventually moved on to decline the offer. And then, at that point, wanted to like, backtrack and like, play this game. And that's not a good use of my time or effort. So, as the business owner, I made the decision to uphold my boutique's policy and not to offer her a refund or to offer her the opportunity to reschedule, because at this point, like, she'd already wasted literally a day of my time. Literally, a day was spent in exchange with this person. And that's no shade, right? It's just, it's unfortunate because I do very much value my clients' experiences and I always want to meet with them where they're at. I always want–. I want them to come and get their henna. And I understand that when they book with me, I charge premium rates. When they book with me, you know, they are making an investment in something, you know, for themselves for self-care. And also, just because they're opting to make an investment, does not make them entitle to extra amounts of my time and it certainly doesn't entitle them to overstep boundaries that exist for a reason, right? 

I share that with you because that's like, one way that this situation can go. And I want to share with you another way that this also went and this, with the second client, we also had an issue with tardiness and we ended up having to reschedule.

So, what happened was, I received a–. Part of my process is that, you know, my clients, if they're going to be late, I tell them to let me know so that I can be prepared. And so, I did receive a text message from this client at 9:16 PM saying, "I'm going to be late. There's a detour for road work." 

Okay, so I live in the Baltimore area and yes, it's true, there are often road work situations happening in the evenings. And also, fam, how are you really going to be late for an appointment at 9:30 PM? 

So I replied to her immediately and say "Hi, thanks for letting me know. Could you tell me what's your ETA," right? "What time should I expect you?" 

And she replies back to me and says, "I'll arrive at 9:50."

We already have an issue here, right? We already have an issue here. She is scheduled at 9:30 and she's telling me she's going to arrive at 9:50, almost 10 o'clock. By the time we actually, assuming she arrives at 9:50, by the time we actually start, it would be 10 o'clock. And this you're already seeing the challenge here, right? 

So, as soon as I receive this message, I say, "Okay, I'm afraid that's outside of our window for late arrivals. I'm happy to offer you a reschedule, but I won't be able to accommodate a 20-minute late arrival for a 30-minute session." And then I go on to give her a link and I let her know, you know, "Please visit the website at this specific link to review the current availability and reply to this message." And I let her know what she needs to do so that we can get her appointment rescheduled without her continuing on her way, right? Continuing to come towards, you know, towards the boutique because at this point the appointment's not happening. 

She then responds, "Can I get a refund?" 

And I said, "No, we have a strict no-refund policy, but are happy to offer a one-time reschedule so you don't miss out on your investment." 

She then replies, "Well, this is not my fault and I'm still within the 20-minute timeframe, but you're already rescheduling me." 

To which I reply, "You said your ETA is 20 minutes after your scheduled start time. Our tardiness policy allows for up to a 10-minute delay. Typically, such late notice would actually constitute a cancellation. My offer to reschedule is being generous. If we were to begin, you'd only be able to receive 10 minutes of service. The offer to schedule is for your benefit. Please let me know if you'd prefer to reschedule or simply cancel this session." 

So, at this point, I'm now applying this boundary: hey, look, you're telling me that you're going to arrive 20 minutes late and your appointment is only for 30 minutes. And let's be honest, hennapreneurs, you guys already know, again, let's say she arrived 20 minutes late to this 30-minute appointment, it's going to take her some time just to get settled in. We're starting at 30 minutes after her 30-minute appointment, which means that we are now starting at the time that she should be getting up to leave, basically, right? 

And, for me, on the date that she was scheduled to attend this appointment, the boutique actually closes at 10 o'clock and I had another arrangement after so I was not able to– like, me staying was not an option. 

And she, at that point, you know, she replied to me and she said, "Well, how is this late notice of my appointment at 9:30 if I sent the text at 9:16?" 

That's when she initially contacted me to say that she was going to be late. Now, I don't feel like it goes without saying, but apparently this is something that I, you know, I perhaps I should just go ahead and reiterate or iterate for y'all, but 14 minutes of notice that you're going to be late is late notice. 

And that would be late notice to any appointment – to a doctor's appointment, to your hairstylist, to an attorney's office, to a restaurant. I mean, if you're going to be late and you contact them within 14 minues of your anticipated start time to let them know that you're basically going to get there at the time when your appointment should be ending, like, that is late notice. 

And, for me, inside of my business, typically, I look for a minimum of four hours advanced notice. So even like with the client that I mentioned just prior, she contacted me within three hours of her start time, but I was willing to be flexible. And that's where I'm saying, you can opt to be flexible. There are times when it's okay to be flexible and where it's okay to extend generosity towards your clients. But this is an instance where that's not. Like, I'm not going to debate with you about whether or not 14 minutes is enough notice. Like, the bottom line is you are going to miss your appointment, you know?

And so, at that point, I don't even engage that question because it's just, to me, I'm sensing it to be argumentative. And honestly, it's not productive towards us finding a resolution towards, you know, for this appointment. 

So I let her know, "Please, let me know–" I just sent her literally again, the same message. "Please let me know if you prefer to reschedule or simply cancel the session." 

She then replies, "I'll do my 10 minutes." 

Okay. Now, hennapreneurs, how many of you would just say 'okay' and let her arrive and give her the 10 minutes of service and move on with your life? I'm guessing that many of you probably would because – typically – we, as women, we're socialized to be avoidant of conflict, we're socialized to, like, want to people-please.

And so, here, you've got this person who's saying, you know, basically, 'I purchased this 30-minute window. If I still have 10 minutes, then I'll just take the 10 minutes, but this is the thing, from my perspective – and this is something that I teach my students. So like this y'all are getting some free – every time you sit down with a client you're producing work that then goes out into the world. Every experience you have with the client, you are creating a story for them to then share out with the world. So if it's a great experience, they're going to share that. If it's not a great experience, they're also going to share that. If the work is nice and crisp and clean and, you know, well-representing of your skill, they're going to share that. And also, if the work is sloppy and rushed, they're going to share that, right? 

I am not willing to see a client for 10 minutes. First of all, you know, as I continue to reiterate, if she were to arrive 20 minutes late, that 10 minutes wouldn't be spent doing henna because she still would have to come in, we'd have to get her to wash her hands, she's going to have to settle in, I'm going to have to ask her the questions about, you know, 'is there anything that she's looking for?', then begin to create. If we're lucky, she might have around three to four minutes of actual design application and she's purchased a 30-minute session with me. Why would I offer this person three minutes of service or four minutes of service, at best, and then send her back out into the world? 

I'm not going to create work that is a poor representation of the service and the experience that I offer my clients because this person is running late. Sorry. 

And this isn't something that I share with her, but I'm sharing it with you because I want you to understand the decision-making process behind me choosing to hold this boundary and not give her the 10 minutes that she's asking for while she's asking for it, because it might feel, you know, beneficial to her in the moment. I'm the expert. This is my business. And I know better, right? 

And so. Sometimes we have to be aware, and this is where I'm really pointing at you, right? Sometimes you have to be aware that you are the expert, this is your business, and you know better, you know better, right? You know that it's going to take her the time to get settled in. You know that it's going to take the time for you guys to have a discussion around the design. You know that it's going to take time for her to have her design dry sufficiently for you to be able to then send her back out, right? 

This is not a 10-minute exchange. In fact, I don't even offer a 10-minute selection at the henna boutique at all. So if the amount of time that I was given to work with this person is beneath, it's less than what my minimum service is, there's absolutely no way that I'm going to do that because I wouldn't be able to produce something that would represent my business in the way that I'm willing to send out into the world, right? 

And so, at this point I am very direct with her. And so I replied to her and I said, "Perhaps I was unclear. The options available are to either reschedule or cancel entirely. Your arrival is outside of the grace period provided. I'm unable to offer services within such constraints. Please let me know which of the offered solutions you would prefer." 

And this message was sent to her at 9:43 PM. 9:43. So this is the thing, typically, when someone is a late arrival at 10 minutes after their scheduled start time, I send out a cancellation notice that says something to the effect of 'Sorry, we missed you. Your appointment started at X time. You've not arrived. I hope everything is all right. And we look forward to serving you in the future,' right? 

I have not sent this email to her because we're still in, you know, having this conversation. So I'm still wanting to make space for her to make the right choice, right, without making, you know, without doing all the things inside of my system. And I don't hear from her until a couple of minutes later and actually, let me pause because, again, the boutique, I will close at 10. So her appointment would have been my last appointment of the evening. 

At this point, I've already told this person I'm not offering you services tonight. And so, I pack up after I send this. You know, I send this message. I pack up. I clean up my space. I'm ready to go. I get in my car and I've literally already driven away. I'm no longer even at the henna boutique, because I've already said I'm not offering services within this capacity, within these constraints. It doesn't serve her. It doesn't serve me. And aside from that, it's outside of my policies anyway, right? I have something else. I have another arrangement, another engagement that I have, so I'm out of there. 

So I leave and I'm literally driving down, you know, driving down the highway and I get a text message saying, "I'm at the exit." Then I get another text message saying, "I'm here." Then I get another text message and I don't respond to these because I'm like, if you're at the exit, like, I didn't tell you to continue to drive towards the boutique and I was very clear [that] services are not happening tonight. 

When I get the message saying she's here, like, the same. I'm like, she's going to realize no one is there. The lights are now off. The building is locked. It is what it is, right? I gave the options. We didn't want to engage those options. And then, finally, I get a third message that says. "Reschedule," okay? 

So, as soon as I get this message, I reply back to her, "Awesome!" And I give her the details of what she needs to do so that we can get the appointment rescheduled. She sends me a new date and time. I say, "Perfect! You're all set. Have a great evening. And I'll see you on Saturday." The date that she just scheduled for. 

So on that Saturday, and this is where it's, I want to give you guys a little bit of, like, behind the scenes, because when you have a situation like this, where there is, we can call it conflict, right? There's a conflict. There's a discord. There's a discontentment between, you know, your business and your client and then you reschedule, oftentimes, the fear around rescheduling is: what happens if they get to the rescheduled appointment and they're still mad? What happens if it gets to the rescheduled appointment and they're angry? 

And in this case, she rescheduled for two days later, right? So this exchange is still, it's still fairly fresh, right? And I want to share with you how I handle that because it's important when you have a challenging exchange with your clients and you have to enforce a boundary and you sense that there may be discontentment around that, and then you're scheduled to see them afterwards or scheduled to see them again. You cannot come to that appointment within, you know, in that same energy. 

So she was scheduled to then be my first appointment that following Saturday. And when she came to that, I served her like normal. She arrived. She, you know, she let me know when she arrived, which is one of my policies because of the pandemic, right? I let her know, "Hey, perfect. Come on, you know, come on in." We get her set up. We do her henna. She's lovely. I so enjoyed getting to meet her. So enjoyed getting to create for her and after it was all said and done, after her designs were completed and after, you know, she had everything finished, I then let her know, like, this is why, right? Like, this is where, you know, 10 minutes, there's no way you would have been able to experience this, right? 

And she was really happy with the designs that she received. She thought they were so beautiful. And, you know, but I could sense also that when she came in, she wasn't sure if I was going to meet her, like, with you know, with discord or with like, this energy of you know, being frustrated or what have you. No, no, no. This is business. This is business. It's not personal. It's not personal. We are maintaining the boundaries around our business and it's not a personal attack. It's not a personal offense, even. It's just policy, all right? 

And so, if we can really own that and remember that in our exchanges with our clients, things will be so much easier for you to draw those lines in the proverbial sand when it needs to happen and also to service your clients well in the future when you see them, right?

So I could tell, you know, again, when she arrived, she was a little bit like, 'ehhh, what's she going to get?' And I greeted her like, like, like as if this was her first time coming to the boutique ever. As if this was her first appointment. As if we never even had rescheduled. Why? Because it's not even– it's not necessary. It's not necessary. What's necessary is that she arrives, and she has a really great time; that she's served really well and she's sent back in the world, you know, feeling great about the designs that she received and the time that youshespent with me as her artist. 

I share this with you because here we have two very similar situations, the same policies, you know, were being challenged and you can see how the resolution went differently from one client to the other. And I want to highlight for you that you can't control what clients will do, but you can control how you respond. 

And so, a couple things that I want to leave with you in this episode is, one, definitely document your client communications. It is not by chance. It is not purely for my convenience that I don't offer phone support for these sorts of things. These things are documented either via text message or via email for a reason. Why is that? Y'all know what a chargeback is? I receive payment upfront for those services, so if I have someone who then goes back to their bank and says I paid this person and they didn't render me services, I want a charge back, I want to, you know, I want my money back, I now have ample documentation of me not only communicating with them clearly, but sending them to the resources that they need to get the help and the support that they need. And there's no question about who said what, when they said it, what it looked like. No, no, no. Everything is documented in writing. And I have it available to me if we need to go that route. 

I was very, very sure. I was like 90% sure that that first client was going to attempt to charge back. And I haven't seen that request come through. I haven't seen that, which I'm thankful for because really it's just a headache. 

Thankfully, my payment processor actually handles all of that for me. I just have to send in paperwork if, like, if they're being requested, but you know, this is something for you to be mindful of. 

You need to protect your business and how can you protect your business if everything is, you know, he said, she said? Let's not do that. Hennapreneurs, let's be smarter than that. This is a business. 

The next thing that I want to leave you with is that you need to hold fast to your policies. This is what keeps your business sustainable. Don't allow for insecurity or discomfort around uncomfortable exchanges to push you beyond your boundaries. It is your job as the business owner to advocate for yourself and your business as it exists today. And friends, if you don't know what policies your business needs to stay sustainable to give you, you know, that protection, to protect your time, to protect your money, to protect your sanity, right? All of these things are handed to you on a silver platter inside of Hennapreneur PRO – everything from email templates, text templates, like, things that you need to have in order so that you have everything taken care of for your policies and for how you engage with your clients. All of these things are laid out for you. 

So if you haven't checked out Hennapreneur PRO, now is a great time to do it because I mean, I got you, I got your back. Things like this happen and you want to feel really competent and secure that you will know how to handle them. 

And in this case, in both of these scenarios, I was paid regardless, right? I was paid for for the services that were rendered. I was paid for my time. I was paid for the effort that was put forth to serve these people. 

And, you know, in one instance, yeah, I didn't get to meet that person. And you know what? I was still compensated for the energetic expenditure that engaging her took, you know, cost me. 

And with the other client, I did get to meet her and she was really lovely and I'm confident that I'll see her again. 

These are things for us to kind of just have in mind as we're thinking, you know, how we can protect our business. We need to have these things in order and if you need help to do that, I've got you, all right? Come hang out with me. Come join me inside of Hennapreneur PRO.

For now, I do want to leave you with a question, as always, because I love to hear back from you guys. Y'all know, you know, the Hennapreneur Community, I just so enjoy hearing your experiences. So I'd love to know if you're, one, if you're not already a member of the Hennapreneur Community over on Facebook, totally head over there. It's Hennapreneur.com/community. You'll find the link there where you can join us.

But I'm asking this question and I'd love to hear back from you there. What's a recent scenario or situation where you've had to choose whether or not to enforce a boundary with a client? You know, one, I want to know all the tea just like I gave y'all the tea, I want to know all the tea, right? I want to know: what did you do? And how did you handle it? Go ahead, pop over to the group, tell us all about it so that we can learn from one another's exchanges and, you know, support you in, perhaps, figuring out what you could do better or differently next time, or really celebrating how you held those boundaries, because that's also something that's a major, major win, right?

So join me over in the Hennapreneur.com/community. We can chat about it and that's it for now. I'll talk to you all next time!

I've got a serious question for you, hennapreneur. 

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