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That's some good suggestions, thanks! Being up front with it without giving a reason has not gone good for me so far, but maybe I just need to fabricate a reas

by uhxvt 5y ago

That's some good suggestions, thanks! Being up front with it without giving a reason has not gone good for me so far, but maybe I just need to fabricate a reason that is relatable and somewhat true. Maybe it would be ok for people when I tell them: text-only because I don't want to sink time in long meetings. Maybe its worth a shot. Letting the client know I will reach out frequently and they can as well would also give them ease of mind and trust. That's good and I guess establishing and deepening trust is the main issue why a lot of people rely on calls/video. In my experience text is often more efficient but not preferred, but that might be because of my own problems.

themodelplumber 5y ago
You're welcome--and, yeah if they are making requests to dig into the issue or asking for your reasons I guess that's different. I have a friend who says that generally people who ask about the reason behind a blanket policy or platform are not a good match for the small business in question. This implies that time spent explaining reasons for policy is wasted time, if you look at the first five or so years of your work as building a foundation for your future by selecting clients who are a good match. I thought that was an interesting point. Trust is a huge one for sure--some people are less trusting, but a lot of those people have had terrible past experiences in business. So it's much less about you and your services, and more about them. And that's not your problem to solve for them. These are very difficult clients to serve in general, and the more you give them what they say they want, the more they feel justified in treating others as if they are untrustworthy. (It's going to be tricky to integrate these ideas from a position of needing to have more clients, rather than needing to let some go for example, but maybe it helps you select better clients faster, so your asking the question here was a good idea.)

by uhxvt 5y ago

themodelplumber 5y ago

You're welcome--and, yeah if they are making requests to dig into the issue or asking for your reasons I guess that's different. I have a friend who says that generally people who ask about the reason behind a blanket policy or platform are not a good match for the small business in question. This implies that time spent explaining reasons for policy is wasted time, if you look at the first five or so years of your work as building a foundation for your future by selecting clients who are a good match. I thought that was an interesting point. Trust is a huge one for sure--some people are less trusting, but a lot of those people have had terrible past experiences in business. So it's much less about you and your services, and more about them. And that's not your problem to solve for them. These are very difficult clients to serve in general, and the more you give them what they say they want, the more they feel justified in treating others as if they are untrustworthy. (It's going to be tricky to integrate these ideas from a position of needing to have more clients, rather than needing to let some go for example, but maybe it helps you select better clients faster, so your asking the question here was a good idea.)