How to Set Boundaries with Clients

When You Give a Client a Cookie...

Okay, question: do you find setting boundaries with clients stressful or awkward? Like you don’t want to come off rude or sound too harsh, but you know some things need to change?

Like the classic tale of ‘If You Give A Mouse A Cookie‘, we sometimes feel the same way with clients. As soon as you give your client a ‘cookie’ (a.k.a. going out of what you deem as your professional boundaries) they want more and more and more.

However, when it comes to setting boundaries with clients, we have a few tips to help set some professional boundaries!

(BUT- if you find setting boundaries super easy, let us know which of our tips below you implement yourself, or others)!

And hi – if we haven’t met, Anna & Madison here; 2 female entrepreneurs and best friends. We’ve built our business over the past few years and have dealt with pretty much any client (or potential client) you can think of. Today we are covering our tried & true methods and reminders for setting boundaries with clients in a professional way.

How to Set Boundaries With Your Clients (Without it Being Awkward)

The best place to start is at the start (duh): in your proposal, contract, written agreement – anywhere you detail the service you are providing for the money they are paying – be so crystal clear in your exact service. If you think you are clear, go one level more detailed. They should know, before agreeing and paying, exactly what you will be offering at what time in what way & anything else. Think of it as trying to answer all of their questions before they even ask.

Let’s start with a few IRL examples!

Example: Service list that is too vague:

Social Media Posts — $400/ month
Social Media Reports — $100/ month

Example: Service list at the right level of detail:

Instagram Engagement — $400/ month, billed on the 1st of each month
- 3 static posts/ week: images provided by the client; copy and caption written by our team
- 2 short form videos: video content provided by the client; editing and caption done by our team
- All videos and photos will be shared through a DropBox account our team will setup
- All posts will be posted between 8am – 5pm, Monday – Friday at the optimal time our team chooses
- … You get the idea!

So now, boundaries on your service offerings have been set. Apply this same method to all other aspects of working with you – what hours you will respond in (i.e. Our team respects the work/life balance our company champions – we will respond to you as quickly as we can, within the hours of 8a – 5p, Monday – Friday. Our team will strive to acknowledge any client communications within 72 hours.), what other items you can or cannot help with, how many communications your team sends a week, and so on.

Now, anytime a client gets upset that they haven’t heard back from your team to an email they sent yesterday, you can kindly point them to the signed agreement stating your 72-hour turn-around policy.

Establishing Boundaries with Clients

Ok… setting boundaries with clients at the start seems easy enough right? But what if you’re reading this with an existing client in mind, who started out within bounds, but has gotten a little out of control lately? Let’s dive into that next.

Let’s give an example. We had a client a few years ago who needed some help running Google Ads. In our proposal we clearly stated that we require 2 months to set a baseline of data for these ads performance (during which we will not report on statistics, as the ads are still leveling out to perform best), and we do not allow other individuals access to the ads, as we need full ownership of the performance (i.e. if someone else allowed in the account accidentally stops the ad, we do not want to be blamed for the downtime).

A few weeks into the ads being live, our client started emailing us asking for a report on how the ads were doing. We pointed to the note in our proposal regarding the baseline timeframe, but they did not accept that as an answer. They kept emailing to get some statistics, as they felt like they were owed that with their monthly fee and because “other companies would give out a report”.

So…how did we handle this situation? Let’s look at a few key tips we implemented in order to set some boundaries with this client:

How to Maintain Boundaries with Clients

Approach any issue directly & promptly- It’s important not to let issues fester or become habitual. If a client repeatedly asks for services outside your agreement, or contacts you during non-business hours, you should address it directly.
- When something goes wrong, address it at the first opportunity, even if it’s a quick email. If you wait too long, it becomes more difficult to correct the behavior, and the client may not even realize they’ve overstepped.
Maintain professionalism & be solution-forward – It’s easy to feel frustrated when clients repeatedly disregard boundaries, but maintaining professionalism is crucial. Approach each conversation with a calm and constructive tone, regardless of the client’s behavior.
- Acknowledge their point: Even when turning down a request, it helps to recognize the client’s concerns or urgency.
- Provide solutions: If a client asks for something outside the agreed-upon scope, offer possible alternatives. For example, “I can certainly help with that, but it falls outside our initial scope. We can either schedule a separate service or extend our contract to include this.”
- This keeps the conversation solution-focused, rather than confrontational, helping the client see that you are trying to work with them, not against them.
Practice Saying “No” with Empathy – Saying “no” is often uncomfortable, but it’s essential to maintain your boundaries. However, how you say it can make a big difference in preserving the client relationship. Use empathetic language to show that you understand their needs, but also stand firm on your limitations.

How to Set Boundaries with Demanding Clients

If you implement these steps at the beginning of your working relationship – you will set yourself up for success! Dealing with demanding clients can take practice, but follow our tips to ensure you handle situations before they arise, or promptly when they do. Then, you will have set yourself up for success when it comes to setting professional boundaries with clients!

How to Set Professional Boundaries with Clients

Some other options on setting boundaries with clients we’ve heard of from our network:

Include FAQs or a client handbook that outlines your policies (e.g., how to handle urgent requests, what constitutes out-of-scope work, expected response times).
Check in periodically to remind them of how to best work together. This can prevent boundary-pushing before it starts.

Setting professional boundaries is something we are always working on and improving, so let us know any that we missed!

Keep creative friends!
– Mad Banana Team

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How to Set Boundaries with Clients​