Guest Post By Lori Widmer

I had a client once who expected – no, demanded – that I be online and signed into Instant Messaging from 8 a.m. until she went home at 8 p.m. my time. If she had questions about what I’d written, she wanted me right there to answer them. My relationship with her ended about 3 seconds after that demand. She was challenging my ability to work my own hours, take my own time off, basically have a life.

It wasn’t the first time, either. I’d informed her a week ahead of time that I was taking time off for my kid’s high-school graduation, what with out-of-town guests and all. That she ignored my private time and talked to my answering machine – four times – during that time off and yes, during the party showed she didn’t respect my time off. The last straw was the IM demand.

How do you deal with client challenges to your professional boundaries? Do you know your own boundaries? We women sometimes tend toward pleasing people and losing ourselves in the process. It’s extremely important that we learn not only how to say no, but when to say no.

Also, we have to know when to stop defending our actions or answering direct challenges. I worked briefly for a man who left me hanging for a month and a half with no word other than, “Are you available next week?” and then suddenly picked up as though only a week had passed. When he began arranging a phone conference for the following week, I said, “I’m out of the office next week.” His response: “What? Again? Didn’t you just have a vacation?”

How would you respond to a direct challenge like that? If you said you’d explain that yes, you were going on vacation but that you would be back on X or Y day, you’ve just mishandled the situation. Instead, you should answer like I did: “Is there something pressing that I can try to handle this week for you?” Don’t address his question – it’s really none of his business. Address the issue – he has work that needs doing.

What you do when you are out of the office – and, in fact, when you’re in the office – is your business. No client should ever treat you like an employee or question your whereabouts unless he/she is willing to put you on the payroll and start paying your benefits. You are an independent contractor. Any client who can’t understand that or respect your independent status is not worth keeping.

_________________________________________________
Lori is a veteran writer and editor with over 15 years of experience. Her main concentrations have been in the insurance and risk management industries, but she’s well versed in trade and consumer writing. Lori’s Blog

Post from: EveryJoe

Handling Client Challenges