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Have you ever felt victimized or resentful because you weren’t paid on time? Today, we tackle the often uncomfortable yet critical topic of setting payment boundaries to ensure business success. I'll share my personal experiences and insights to help you establish firm payment and fee schedules, which not only safeguard your finances but also enhance your professional relationships and self-worth. By enforcing pre-payment guidelines and clear terms, you can avoid the common pitfalls of unpaid invoices and elevate the respect and value clients place on your services. This episode is packed with practical advice on securing upfront payments, offering discounts for full payments, and pausing services if payments are delayed.
We’ll also challenge the mindset that viewing financial transactions as burdensome is the norm and help you see them as valuable exchanges. Recognize the significant investment you’ve made in developing your skills and learn to set clear payment structures to maintain respect and smooth operations. From structured onboarding processes to maintaining professional boundaries, this episode provides the essential tools to foster successful client relationships. Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review for more insights, and follow us on social media for additional resources and complimentary gifts. Let's build a business where you are confidently in control of your financial boundaries!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Having the confidence to set your payment and fee
schedule, having the confidenceto set boundaries and firm
boundaries around this.
This is a big one for a lot ofmy entrepreneurs, my freelancers
, my business owners.
We're going to dig in.
If you've had challenges withnot getting paid, this episode
(00:25):
is for you.
Stay tuned.
As always, it's going to be agood one.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
You're tuning into the Confident, Connected Leader
podcast, your premierdestination for breaking through
your current professionalbarriers.
Your coach and host, Lisa Jeffs, will help you transcend
limitations and achieve newlevels of professional success
beyond self-doubt, sabotage andburnout.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
When I'm working with a very powerful, capable,
established client and theystill have this challenge.
It's okay.
If you have this challenge withyour own clients, understand
that.
It's okay.
It's not a reflection on you asa person.
(01:17):
Let's say you're doing work andyou're not getting paid.
It can create an internaldialogue what am I doing?
What am I doing wrong?
Why am I getting paid?
It can create a victimmentality and all of that is not
(01:39):
going to help you get paid.
But we want to understand it infor the purpose of why is my
business like this?
Because not all business ownersfreelancers, consultants,
coaches, whatever wherever youare in your scope operate like
(02:00):
this.
One of the biggest things isrealizing that you do not have
to run your business like so.
Let me get into what I've ispart of the issue here.
You can have very clear, firmboundaries In my business.
(02:23):
I have very clear guidelinesand I get paid before I produce
work or before I start theagreement.
It's always been like that andthere's never been any pushback
from people that decide to workwith me Ever.
(02:45):
Everyone has pushback.
Now, sometimes for my longerprogram, which are a bigger
investment, we can do aninstallment Even still, though I
am always paid in advancebefore working.
(03:08):
This allows me to show up fullyand give 150% because I feel
I'm not even sure what the rightword.
I'm in the space where I feellike I want to just over deliver
(03:31):
and I want to give so muchbecause I feel supported.
When we don't have thoseguidelines in place, we can
start, as the service provider,business owner, start to feel
resentful, which is not good forany working relationship.
(03:52):
You can start to feel takenadvantage of and really it's a
two-way relationship, right.
So this is where the victimmode can come in and there can
be a anger and a frustration anda resentment towards the client
.
But understanding that if youhad these guidelines in place to
(04:18):
begin with and the confidenceto refute any and the confidence
to refuse any professionalrelationship that doesn't abide
by these guidelines, then youwouldn't even be in this place,
right?
So it's a two-way street here.
There's two people in therelationship.
(04:39):
This is two people, even ifit's in a professional
relationship.
So know that you can set thesefirm guidelines about being paid
in advance for your servicesand people will respect that
they are going off of what youset.
(04:59):
So if you set that, you aredoing the work and then getting
paid.
And I've worked with a lot offreelancers and individuals who
structure their business likethis that they will do the work,
send an invoice or a receiptand sometimes even put the net
(05:26):
30 on it, meaning that they'reeven getting paid for two months
and sometimes even longer,because people tend to drag out
the invoice when the invoice,when you have a net 30 on it,
you may not even be getting paiduntil net 30.
(05:47):
This is not a good feeling foranyone and it is not helpful for
the clients you're working for.
It is not good the way Istructured my business.
I can't remember who I modeledit from.
So a lot of the way I did mystructuring my business was
(06:10):
modeled or it was.
When I first started my business, I went right into, I had a
coach right away and I went intoa business program right away
and the business program was runby a woman who is a no-nonsense
woman, so she may have been theone who instilled this.
I can't remember, but it's beenthis way from the beginning.
(06:32):
Because I'm not interested inchasing people to pay invoices,
I'm not interested in the wholehoopla.
My guideline is I don't evenstart.
A lot of times I won't even setthe first scheduled date with a
(06:52):
new client unless there's adifferent relationship, unless
there's something that you knowintuitively, I'm like we can set
it.
It would be a good next step toset it right away.
I won't even set it until thepayment comes through, because
this is a way of taking a clientthrough the process to where
(07:16):
everything is very clean andstructured, and this is just the
way it is.
I'm going to take you through.
First.
Let me go into why do we dothis?
So people get stuck in thispattern of clients not paying
doing work.
One thing we got to look belowthe surface.
What is this actually teachingyou?
(07:38):
What is this teaching you aboutself-worth, self-respect, you
about self-worth, self-respect,respecting your own time,
respecting the value that yougive, and teaching you about
(08:04):
boundaries and advocating foryourself.
So is there a part of you thatfeels like you can't set firm
guidelines, that if you getpushed back, there's a story
around that, such as maybe I'mnot worthy enough, maybe I need
to take the business that I get.
So let me make it clear bysaying a lot of this when you're
(08:25):
doing these agreements withclients, it doesn't have to be
this whole emotional aspect ofit.
It's simply an agreement, it'ssimply the guidelines of an
agreement and a lot of timespeople are just going to go with
whatever your guidelines areand it's much easier to set firm
(08:46):
, strong guidelines at thebeginning.
Again, I've never had anypushback from this from anyone
and in fact, when I do anonboarding call, a lot of times
people are excited onboardingcall.
A lot of times people areexcited.
They're excited to pay.
(09:08):
Sometimes they're nervous orthey feel a little bit scared,
but they're excited and they'rehappy.
You don't have to take all thatpressure and make it into I
don't want to ask for money, Idon't want to seem greedy or
don't want people not to like me.
A lot of times it's thesepatterns around not being liked,
(09:32):
around not being liked, notwanting to look like the greedy,
money-hungry person and allthese money stories and money
beliefs.
I want to invite you to justsee it as simply an exchange and
see that, whatever someone isinvesting in you, you are of
(09:53):
huge value.
I want you to look at and takeinto account what you invested
in yourself to get the skillsthat you do to be able to
provide this service for theperson.
What hours, how many hours haveyou put into this?
I can't even count the amountof hours and the amount of money
(10:14):
and the amount of effort thatI've put into my work and my
practice and getting really goodat what I do and because of
that, it's really easy for me toshow up on calls as a code and
be able to help someone have abreakthrough within a few
(10:34):
minutes.
That is of huge value.
So I need you to see the workthat you do as being of huge
value and I need you to look atam I afraid of not being liked?
Let me tell you it's not yourjob to be liked and it feels a
(10:59):
lot better to be respected thanto be liked.
You don't need to like me andsometimes, as a coach, you're
not going to like me because I'mgoing to call you out on
certain things that are going tohelp you move forward, because
it's not my job as a coach to bea yes person.
Sometimes there isaccountability that you need to
(11:20):
move forward and that's my job.
It's a lot better to feelrespected in a professional
relationship than liked.
That's not to say you can't beliked or you can't have great
clients.
I have amazing clients, clientsthat I've worked with for years
and they are not only clientsor dear friends, but there's a
(11:40):
respect level and that's whatyou want.
And you have to set the stage asthe service because once you do
, it's a lot easier to continuethat momentum.
And then there's no chasingafter invoices.
I can't even imagine the extraburden and just frustration and
(12:05):
even the heavy load of, you know, sending invoices after work
has been done, not getting paid,having to chase after.
No, I'm sorry, that is no more.
I want you to literally be likeno more.
If this is what you've beenexperiencing, you can change it
(12:26):
right off the bat.
So I'll give you an example ofhow and this may not be
applicable for everyone'sbusiness, but I'll show you just
from over the years what I'verealized in my business that
keeps things running so smooth.
And anytime I deviate from this,I'll have, let's say, a really
(12:47):
great intro call and I'll belike, oh, you know what.
This person is on the ball.
I don't need to do thisspecific, maybe I can have some
wiggle room here.
And then I always regret it,because it's not that the person
is a bad person, it's thatpeople are so busy and their
(13:08):
minds are often all over theplace, especially if they're
having challenges with things.
If you're a consultant or acoach or someone there to help
you, give your expertise, it'snot that people are being
malicious most of the time, it'sthat they need the structure.
So for me, my on-pointstructure is always once I get a
(13:35):
yes for a person yes, we'regoing to work together Great,
payment up front.
If they choose to pay in fullfor the whole project or the
whole time, that I do offer adiscount, a 5% to 10% discount.
(13:57):
This allows for the person totake advantage of this discount
and allows you to get paid infull.
Great.
When, if not, we go on aninstallment?
But there's always a payment upfront and the payment up front
is always for the first month,so it's always getting paid
(14:21):
before work is done.
If a payment is not made orpaused and I've only had this a
few times with a few clients whohave needed to pause for a week
or two, which is fine If it wasa pause for a month or more,
(14:42):
then the project or the coachingcontainer would be paused, and
this can be made very clear.
That's okay that you need anextra.
Sometimes things happen, Itotally understand, we'll pause
the program or we'll pause theservice.
If you're doing websitedevelopment, okay, we'll pause
(15:05):
the project before and once youpay, we'll restart it.
This encourages the person tobe proactive and come up with
the funds to then pay for thenext installment of the service.
Never now, because of theenergy that I.
(15:38):
It's not a lesson that I needto learn anymore about setting
boundaries around fee schedules,so I want you to have those in
place.
Going back to my system, so onceit's in place and the payment
comes through, the next step issigning the client agreement.
This is an agreement that hasall your terms and conditions.
(15:59):
You should have in your termsand conditions specific terms
and conditions around fees andpayment.
So it's very clear Once thatagreement is completed, welcome
packet goes out.
Welcome packet is all theinformation I need to start the
program.
(16:19):
Once that is in place, then weschedule the session and when
done like that, everything is sosmooth and it just falls into
place the welcome packet.
I need to chase people for thewelcome packet, so I've, over
(16:43):
the years, having one step infront of the other.
After this completion, thisafter this, this after this.
This takes people through suchan easy process that is clear
and concise and people aremotivated to get through the
next one because they want thenext one.
(17:05):
It's just human nature.
Going through a process, I'vecompleted it, great.
Now my reward is the next step.
Let me know if you havequestions on that, please.
(17:27):
Obviously, every business isdifferent, but I'm sure if you
are to look at, if you have abusiness where you're onboarding
new clientele, there's going tobe a system and you can create
a system that is seamless and ithelps you avoid having to chase
people for things.
That is what we want to avoid,specifically around money.
Now we're going to get intowhat do you actually do if you
(17:52):
are on a call, because I thinkthis is where a lot of people
get that awkward feeling andthis is where the problem arises
, especially if you are, let'ssay, a freelancer or you're
taking sales calls and you feelweird about taking money on the
(18:15):
call or asking for a credit card.
You say something like okay,I'll send you the invoice or
whatever it is.
You don't want to deal with itin person, you'd rather send
emails.
And this is where the challengecomes, because if you send an
email with an invoice and itsays something like net 30.
(18:40):
First there is no rush to pay,that there's no urgency put on
that client.
So when there's no urgency it'svery easy to put it off, even
if the person has good intention.
So you want to put it off evenif the person has good intention
.
So you want to put the due onarrival as soon as you get that
(19:00):
invoice.
The payment is due.
But you don't want to alsoleave it to the invoice to do
your work.
You want to make it very clearfor the client that no work is
being started until the paymentis made.
(19:21):
But let's go back to takingpayment on the call, because if
you have a lot of money beliefsgoing on or if you have
different things within you,you're going to project that and
make it feel like a veryawkward conversation of taking
(19:45):
the credit card when it doesn'tneed to be.
Again, you need to get into themindset that what you are
delivering and it's very easywhen you know that you always
over deliver because you arevery well compensated it's much
easier to do this and we're notgoing to get into what you
(20:09):
should be charging in thisepisode.
But note that if you areundercharged you're not going to
have the same confidencebecause you're going to give so
much value for what you're doing, because you're so compensated
(20:29):
and you just want to pour on somuch value for these clients.
If you're a person on planetearth working through your money
, beliefs, anything that aroundguilt or greediness or anything
like that needs to be workedthrough Okay, cause it's going
to hinder you in business and inlife in general.
(20:51):
But taking payment on the callsupports you and it supports
your current, because it's veryeasy to allow life and stuff and
they're investing in their ownbusiness or they're investing in
(21:13):
their health or they'reinvesting in their relationships
or their well-being.
People will talk themselves outof certain things Even though
they were fully invested on thecall, if they have any kind of
sabotaging patterns going.
It's very easy to talk yourselfout of something after this to
(21:41):
support your clients, especiallyif you are helping people that
are lost in, stuck in patternwhere they keep putting things
off.
So taking payments on the phoneand learning how to do this,
practicing in the mirrorpractice, saying out loud it's
(22:05):
great.
I'm looking forward to startingthe project with you.
I'm looking forward to startingthis professional relationship.
How would you like to payCredit card?
I'd like to pay credit carde-transfer and doing it while
they're on the call credit cardand they're waiting to give me
(22:31):
their credit card number, I'mlike, oh, just a second.
And if I had a whole bunch ofmoney, belief of lack and
limitation and greediness andthis, and that of lack and
limitation and greediness andthis, and that it would be a
very awkward space in that time?
Because I do not have, becauseI'm confident in myself and what
I offer and what I do.
(22:53):
My nervous system is regulated,I am calm, cool and collected
and that allows the client tofeel calm, cool and collected.
(23:13):
Again, this typically happenswhen it's a bigger investment or
it's a small business toconsumer.
This doesn't typically happenin corporate relationships or
corporate agreement right that,where it's very much more just.
These are the terms.
This is what it is.
(23:41):
Even still, if it as a serviceprovider, it doesn't matter if
they have their own terms.
You have your own terms.
So state that your terms arepayment before work is started,
pay in full.
Offer them discount 5% to 10%.
(24:02):
There are some terms incorporate contracts that state
if they are offered a discount,they are to take whatever that
is with the discount.
So if they say these are theterms you state.
Oh, I completely understand.
(24:23):
These are the terms that are inmy agreement to work together
and if you need to be a littlebit flexible, do not compromise
on work being paid after work isdone.
That is unacceptable.
(24:45):
A great book that you can getthat speaks in great detail
about proposals and specific ifyou're working in, if you're
doing corporate contract, isMillion Dollar Consultant by
Alan White, I believe his lastname is pronounced.
(25:06):
He has many different editionsto this book.
I would suggest getting themost recent edition because it
is up to date in what current inthe world.
But there's a lot of value inhis older editions as well.
I think one of his firsteditions.
Really, if you are new tobusiness, it walks you through.
(25:29):
Of course, some of it's notgonna be applicable anymore, but
what kind of equipment you need, how to set up your office
really detailed.
So, million Dollar Consultant,alan Wise great book.
But I'm going to wrap it up.
But if you have questionsspecifics that you want answered
to your business or the workthat you're doing, please send
(25:53):
me a message on the podcastwebsite.
Message on the podcast website.
If you cannot, depending onwhere you're accessing this.
You may not see the sendmessage send text message but if
you go on my Instagram at Lisaunderscore Jeff's and you go
into the link in the bio, you'regoing to see the podcast
(26:16):
website.
You'll be able to find thebutton.
I believe it's a green colorand it says send a message if
you'd like a question answeredon the podcast.
I cannot guarantee I will answeryour question.
If it makes sense for thecollective of all listeners, I
(26:37):
will answer it because I reallyenjoy giving you specific
answers to the questions youhave.
And that's it.
So believe in yourself, knowyou are valuable, know that
people follow your guidelinesand if you are not getting paid
and if you are frustrated andyou are feeling like you are
(26:57):
frazzled and starting to resentyour clients, it's time to set
new guidelines.
It's time to set new boundaries.
Figure it out in whatever wayworks for you, but make sure
that you feel supported and thatthe work you are doing is being
(27:19):
compensated appropriately,because this not only supports
you, it supports the client.
There's nothing worse than youresenting your client, feeling
angry and frustrated, becausethen it's not only eating a hole
(27:40):
within you, which you don'tdeserve, but it's having this
ripple effect, this energysprawled out into all the work
you're doing for your client.
I hope this was helpful.
Let's continue the conversationIf you're still with me.
I appreciate you more than yourealize.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
And, as always, let's stay connected, breakthrough
barriers and climb to newprofessional heights.
If today's episode inspired you, we'd be honored if you could
subscribe, wait and leave areview To stay updated with
practical tips and insights.
Follow us on LinkedIn,Instagram or Facebook.
You'll find all relevant links,including those for our
(28:34):
complimentary gifts andtrainings, in the show notes.
Until our next episode, embraceyour confidence and stay
connected.
Having the confidence to set your payment and fee
schedule, having the confidenceto set boundaries and firm
boundaries around this.
This is a big one for a lot ofmy entrepreneurs, my freelancers
, my business owners.
We're going to dig in.
If you've had challenges withnot getting paid, this episode
(00:25):
is for you.
Stay tuned.
As always, it's going to be agood one.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
You're tuning into the Confident, Connected Leader
podcast, your premierdestination for breaking through
your current professionalbarriers.
Your coach and host, Lisa Jeffs, will help you transcend
limitations and achieve newlevels of professional success
beyond self-doubt, sabotage andburnout.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
When I'm working with a very powerful, capable,
established client and theystill have this challenge.
It's okay.
If you have this challenge withyour own clients, understand
that.
It's okay.
It's not a reflection on you asa person.
(01:17):
Let's say you're doing work andyou're not getting paid.
It can create an internaldialogue what am I doing?
What am I doing wrong?
Why am I getting paid?
It can create a victimmentality and all of that is not
(01:39):
going to help you get paid.
But we want to understand it infor the purpose of why is my
business like this?
Because not all business ownersfreelancers, consultants,
coaches, whatever wherever youare in your scope operate like
(02:00):
this.
One of the biggest things isrealizing that you do not have
to run your business like so.
Let me get into what I've ispart of the issue here.
You can have very clear, firmboundaries In my business.
(02:23):
I have very clear guidelinesand I get paid before I produce
work or before I start theagreement.
It's always been like that andthere's never been any pushback
from people that decide to workwith me Ever.
(02:45):
Everyone has pushback.
Now, sometimes for my longerprogram, which are a bigger
investment, we can do aninstallment Even still, though I
am always paid in advancebefore working.
(03:08):
This allows me to show up fullyand give 150% because I feel
I'm not even sure what the rightword.
I'm in the space where I feellike I want to just over deliver
(03:31):
and I want to give so muchbecause I feel supported.
When we don't have thoseguidelines in place, we can
start, as the service provider,business owner, start to feel
resentful, which is not good forany working relationship.
(03:52):
You can start to feel takenadvantage of and really it's a
two-way relationship, right.
So this is where the victimmode can come in and there can
be a anger and a frustration anda resentment towards the client
.
But understanding that if youhad these guidelines in place to
(04:18):
begin with and the confidenceto refute any and the confidence
to refuse any professionalrelationship that doesn't abide
by these guidelines, then youwouldn't even be in this place,
right?
So it's a two-way street here.
There's two people in therelationship.
(04:39):
This is two people, even ifit's in a professional
relationship.
So know that you can set thesefirm guidelines about being paid
in advance for your servicesand people will respect that
they are going off of what youset.
(04:59):
So if you set that, you aredoing the work and then getting
paid.
And I've worked with a lot offreelancers and individuals who
structure their business likethis that they will do the work,
send an invoice or a receiptand sometimes even put the net
(05:26):
30 on it, meaning that they'reeven getting paid for two months
and sometimes even longer,because people tend to drag out
the invoice when the invoice,when you have a net 30 on it,
you may not even be getting paiduntil net 30.
(05:47):
This is not a good feeling foranyone and it is not helpful for
the clients you're working for.
It is not good the way Istructured my business.
I can't remember who I modeledit from.
So a lot of the way I did mystructuring my business was
(06:10):
modeled or it was.
When I first started my business, I went right into, I had a
coach right away and I went intoa business program right away
and the business program was runby a woman who is a no-nonsense
woman, so she may have been theone who instilled this.
I can't remember, but it's beenthis way from the beginning.
(06:32):
Because I'm not interested inchasing people to pay invoices,
I'm not interested in the wholehoopla.
My guideline is I don't evenstart.
A lot of times I won't even setthe first scheduled date with a
(06:52):
new client unless there's adifferent relationship, unless
there's something that you knowintuitively, I'm like we can set
it.
It would be a good next step toset it right away.
I won't even set it until thepayment comes through, because
this is a way of taking a clientthrough the process to where
(07:16):
everything is very clean andstructured, and this is just the
way it is.
I'm going to take you through.
First.
Let me go into why do we dothis?
So people get stuck in thispattern of clients not paying
doing work.
One thing we got to look belowthe surface.
What is this actually teachingyou?
(07:38):
What is this teaching you aboutself-worth, self-respect, you
about self-worth, self-respect,respecting your own time,
respecting the value that yougive, and teaching you about
(08:04):
boundaries and advocating foryourself.
So is there a part of you thatfeels like you can't set firm
guidelines, that if you getpushed back, there's a story
around that, such as maybe I'mnot worthy enough, maybe I need
to take the business that I get.
So let me make it clear bysaying a lot of this when you're
(08:25):
doing these agreements withclients, it doesn't have to be
this whole emotional aspect ofit.
It's simply an agreement, it'ssimply the guidelines of an
agreement and a lot of timespeople are just going to go with
whatever your guidelines areand it's much easier to set firm
(08:46):
, strong guidelines at thebeginning.
Again, I've never had anypushback from this from anyone
and in fact, when I do anonboarding call, a lot of times
people are excited onboardingcall.
A lot of times people areexcited.
They're excited to pay.
(09:08):
Sometimes they're nervous orthey feel a little bit scared,
but they're excited and they'rehappy.
You don't have to take all thatpressure and make it into I
don't want to ask for money, Idon't want to seem greedy or
don't want people not to like me.
A lot of times it's thesepatterns around not being liked,
(09:32):
around not being liked, notwanting to look like the greedy,
money-hungry person and allthese money stories and money
beliefs.
I want to invite you to justsee it as simply an exchange and
see that, whatever someone isinvesting in you, you are of
(09:53):
huge value.
I want you to look at and takeinto account what you invested
in yourself to get the skillsthat you do to be able to
provide this service for theperson.
What hours, how many hours haveyou put into this?
I can't even count the amountof hours and the amount of money
(10:14):
and the amount of effort thatI've put into my work and my
practice and getting really goodat what I do and because of
that, it's really easy for me toshow up on calls as a code and
be able to help someone have abreakthrough within a few
(10:34):
minutes.
That is of huge value.
So I need you to see the workthat you do as being of huge
value and I need you to look atam I afraid of not being liked?
Let me tell you it's not yourjob to be liked and it feels a
(10:59):
lot better to be respected thanto be liked.
You don't need to like me andsometimes, as a coach, you're
not going to like me because I'mgoing to call you out on
certain things that are going tohelp you move forward, because
it's not my job as a coach to bea yes person.
Sometimes there isaccountability that you need to
(11:20):
move forward and that's my job.
It's a lot better to feelrespected in a professional
relationship than liked.
That's not to say you can't beliked or you can't have great
clients.
I have amazing clients, clientsthat I've worked with for years
and they are not only clientsor dear friends, but there's a
(11:40):
respect level and that's whatyou want.
And you have to set the stage asthe service because once you do
, it's a lot easier to continuethat momentum.
And then there's no chasingafter invoices.
I can't even imagine the extraburden and just frustration and
(12:05):
even the heavy load of, you know, sending invoices after work
has been done, not getting paid,having to chase after.
No, I'm sorry, that is no more.
I want you to literally be likeno more.
If this is what you've beenexperiencing, you can change it
(12:26):
right off the bat.
So I'll give you an example ofhow and this may not be
applicable for everyone'sbusiness, but I'll show you just
from over the years what I'verealized in my business that
keeps things running so smooth.
And anytime I deviate from this,I'll have, let's say, a really
(12:47):
great intro call and I'll belike, oh, you know what.
This person is on the ball.
I don't need to do thisspecific, maybe I can have some
wiggle room here.
And then I always regret it,because it's not that the person
is a bad person, it's thatpeople are so busy and their
(13:08):
minds are often all over theplace, especially if they're
having challenges with things.
If you're a consultant or acoach or someone there to help
you, give your expertise, it'snot that people are being
malicious most of the time, it'sthat they need the structure.
So for me, my on-pointstructure is always once I get a
(13:35):
yes for a person yes, we'regoing to work together Great,
payment up front.
If they choose to pay in fullfor the whole project or the
whole time, that I do offer adiscount, a 5% to 10% discount.
(13:57):
This allows for the person totake advantage of this discount
and allows you to get paid infull.
Great.
When, if not, we go on aninstallment?
But there's always a payment upfront and the payment up front
is always for the first month,so it's always getting paid
(14:21):
before work is done.
If a payment is not made orpaused and I've only had this a
few times with a few clients whohave needed to pause for a week
or two, which is fine If it wasa pause for a month or more,
(14:42):
then the project or the coachingcontainer would be paused, and
this can be made very clear.
That's okay that you need anextra.
Sometimes things happen, Itotally understand, we'll pause
the program or we'll pause theservice.
If you're doing websitedevelopment, okay, we'll pause
(15:05):
the project before and once youpay, we'll restart it.
This encourages the person tobe proactive and come up with
the funds to then pay for thenext installment of the service.
Never now, because of theenergy that I.
(15:38):
It's not a lesson that I needto learn anymore about setting
boundaries around fee schedules,so I want you to have those in
place.
Going back to my system, so onceit's in place and the payment
comes through, the next step issigning the client agreement.
This is an agreement that hasall your terms and conditions.
(15:59):
You should have in your termsand conditions specific terms
and conditions around fees andpayment.
So it's very clear Once thatagreement is completed, welcome
packet goes out.
Welcome packet is all theinformation I need to start the
program.
(16:19):
Once that is in place, then weschedule the session and when
done like that, everything is sosmooth and it just falls into
place the welcome packet.
I need to chase people for thewelcome packet, so I've, over
(16:43):
the years, having one step infront of the other.
After this completion, thisafter this, this after this.
This takes people through suchan easy process that is clear
and concise and people aremotivated to get through the
next one because they want thenext one.
(17:05):
It's just human nature.
Going through a process, I'vecompleted it, great.
Now my reward is the next step.
Let me know if you havequestions on that, please.
(17:27):
Obviously, every business isdifferent, but I'm sure if you
are to look at, if you have abusiness where you're onboarding
new clientele, there's going tobe a system and you can create
a system that is seamless and ithelps you avoid having to chase
people for things.
That is what we want to avoid,specifically around money.
Now we're going to get intowhat do you actually do if you
(17:52):
are on a call, because I thinkthis is where a lot of people
get that awkward feeling andthis is where the problem arises
, especially if you are, let'ssay, a freelancer or you're
taking sales calls and you feelweird about taking money on the
(18:15):
call or asking for a credit card.
You say something like okay,I'll send you the invoice or
whatever it is.
You don't want to deal with itin person, you'd rather send
emails.
And this is where the challengecomes, because if you send an
email with an invoice and itsays something like net 30.
(18:40):
First there is no rush to pay,that there's no urgency put on
that client.
So when there's no urgency it'svery easy to put it off, even
if the person has good intention.
So you want to put it off evenif the person has good intention
.
So you want to put the due onarrival as soon as you get that
(19:00):
invoice.
The payment is due.
But you don't want to alsoleave it to the invoice to do
your work.
You want to make it very clearfor the client that no work is
being started until the paymentis made.
(19:21):
But let's go back to takingpayment on the call, because if
you have a lot of money beliefsgoing on or if you have
different things within you,you're going to project that and
make it feel like a veryawkward conversation of taking
(19:45):
the credit card when it doesn'tneed to be.
Again, you need to get into themindset that what you are
delivering and it's very easywhen you know that you always
over deliver because you arevery well compensated it's much
easier to do this and we're notgoing to get into what you
(20:09):
should be charging in thisepisode.
But note that if you areundercharged you're not going to
have the same confidencebecause you're going to give so
much value for what you're doing, because you're so compensated
(20:29):
and you just want to pour on somuch value for these clients.
If you're a person on planetearth working through your money
, beliefs, anything that aroundguilt or greediness or anything
like that needs to be workedthrough Okay, cause it's going
to hinder you in business and inlife in general.
(20:51):
But taking payment on the callsupports you and it supports
your current, because it's veryeasy to allow life and stuff and
they're investing in their ownbusiness or they're investing in
(21:13):
their health or they'reinvesting in their relationships
or their well-being.
People will talk themselves outof certain things Even though
they were fully invested on thecall, if they have any kind of
sabotaging patterns going.
It's very easy to talk yourselfout of something after this to
(21:41):
support your clients, especiallyif you are helping people that
are lost in, stuck in patternwhere they keep putting things
off.
So taking payments on the phoneand learning how to do this,
practicing in the mirrorpractice, saying out loud it's
(22:05):
great.
I'm looking forward to startingthe project with you.
I'm looking forward to startingthis professional relationship.
How would you like to payCredit card?
I'd like to pay credit carde-transfer and doing it while
they're on the call credit cardand they're waiting to give me
(22:31):
their credit card number, I'mlike, oh, just a second.
And if I had a whole bunch ofmoney, belief of lack and
limitation and greediness andthis, and that of lack and
limitation and greediness andthis, and that it would be a
very awkward space in that time?
Because I do not have, becauseI'm confident in myself and what
I offer and what I do.
(22:53):
My nervous system is regulated,I am calm, cool and collected
and that allows the client tofeel calm, cool and collected.
(23:13):
Again, this typically happenswhen it's a bigger investment or
it's a small business toconsumer.
This doesn't typically happenin corporate relationships or
corporate agreement right that,where it's very much more just.
These are the terms.
This is what it is.
(23:41):
Even still, if it as a serviceprovider, it doesn't matter if
they have their own terms.
You have your own terms.
So state that your terms arepayment before work is started,
pay in full.
Offer them discount 5% to 10%.
(24:02):
There are some terms incorporate contracts that state
if they are offered a discount,they are to take whatever that
is with the discount.
So if they say these are theterms you state.
Oh, I completely understand.
(24:23):
These are the terms that are inmy agreement to work together
and if you need to be a littlebit flexible, do not compromise
on work being paid after work isdone.
That is unacceptable.
(24:45):
A great book that you can getthat speaks in great detail
about proposals and specific ifyou're working in, if you're
doing corporate contract, isMillion Dollar Consultant by
Alan White, I believe his lastname is pronounced.
(25:06):
He has many different editionsto this book.
I would suggest getting themost recent edition because it
is up to date in what current inthe world.
But there's a lot of value inhis older editions as well.
I think one of his firsteditions.
Really, if you are new tobusiness, it walks you through.
(25:29):
Of course, some of it's notgonna be applicable anymore, but
what kind of equipment you need, how to set up your office
really detailed.
So, million Dollar Consultant,alan Wise great book.
But I'm going to wrap it up.
But if you have questionsspecifics that you want answered
to your business or the workthat you're doing, please send
(25:53):
me a message on the podcastwebsite.
Message on the podcast website.
If you cannot, depending onwhere you're accessing this.
You may not see the sendmessage send text message but if
you go on my Instagram at Lisaunderscore Jeff's and you go
into the link in the bio, you'regoing to see the podcast
(26:16):
website.
You'll be able to find thebutton.
I believe it's a green colorand it says send a message if
you'd like a question answeredon the podcast.
I cannot guarantee I will answeryour question.
If it makes sense for thecollective of all listeners, I
(26:37):
will answer it because I reallyenjoy giving you specific
answers to the questions youhave.
And that's it.
So believe in yourself, knowyou are valuable, know that
people follow your guidelinesand if you are not getting paid
and if you are frustrated andyou are feeling like you are
(26:57):
frazzled and starting to resentyour clients, it's time to set
new guidelines.
It's time to set new boundaries.
Figure it out in whatever wayworks for you, but make sure
that you feel supported and thatthe work you are doing is being
(27:19):
compensated appropriately,because this not only supports
you, it supports the client.
There's nothing worse than youresenting your client, feeling
angry and frustrated, becausethen it's not only eating a hole
(27:40):
within you, which you don'tdeserve, but it's having this
ripple effect, this energysprawled out into all the work
you're doing for your client.
I hope this was helpful.
Let's continue the conversationIf you're still with me.
I appreciate you more than yourealize.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
And, as always, let's stay connected, breakthrough
barriers and climb to newprofessional heights.
If today's episode inspired you, we'd be honored if you could
subscribe, wait and leave areview To stay updated with
practical tips and insights.
Follow us on LinkedIn,Instagram or Facebook.
You'll find all relevant links,including those for our
(28:34):
complimentary gifts andtrainings, in the show notes.
Until our next episode, embraceyour confidence and stay
connected.
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