[00:00:00] Welcome back to the Artist to Artist Podcast. Today, I want to talk about how to handle clients who don't take you or your work seriously.
This can be so frustrating, especially when you are trying to maintain a certain level of professionalism and do your best on the jobs that you're doing. I'm going to share my approach to this, how I've learned to set boundaries and communicate effectively to my clients.
And I want to share some strategies you can use to take control of your bookings, even when the vibes are feeling off. And I also want to talk about how your mindset and communication skills really set the tone or can set the tone before you even meet the client. So let's jump into this episode.
The first thing I really want to be clear about is that respect starts with how you treat yourself and the job. At the end of the day, this is a job. It's our livelihood and it deserves to be taken seriously. But if you don't take it seriously, it's hard to expect others to take things seriously.
Think about how you carry yourself during a [00:01:00] booking. Are you confident in your movements, your words, the decisions that you're verbalizing, or are you unsure, are you apologetic, are you overly accommodating to your clients? clients often mirror your energy, so if you're unsure or you're overly submissive, they might unconsciously take advantage of that and not respect you, or your time, or your expertise.
How people treat you often reflects how you treat yourself and your work. So you have to start with the belief that what you're doing is important and worthy of respect. One of the biggest lessons I've learned is that how you communicate with your clients even before the booking starts sets the tone for how they'll treat you during the job.
This isn't always possible in freelance work or maybe in bridal work where you're dealing with multiple people you may not even meet until the day of. But in situations like this, bridal work or direct client bookings or sets where you have communication with people [00:02:00] beforehand, your communication is your first opportunity to establish professionalism.
For example, when I email or text a client or I send a direct message, I keep it professional and direct. I don't over explain, I don't apologize unnecessarily or use language that sounds uncertain or unsure. If you've ever seen my communication templates, you know they're designed to make sure that the tone is clear and confident. When you set the tone beforehand, it's much easier to maintain control when you're actually on site or on the job. If you don't establish this from the beginning, it can be difficult to get that control back later on.
Think about it this way, your communication is the first impression of how you operate. So you want to make sure you make it count. Let's talk about something I use all the time. It's called mirroring. And this is a psychological strategy where you very subtly mimic the energy and behavior of the person that you're working with to build that relationship quickly.
It can be very effective in our line of work where we often need clients to [00:03:00] trust us within the first few seconds or minutes of meeting . But the thing is you have to stay in control of how you use mirroring. If a client isn't respecting your time or treating you seriously and you unintentionally mirror that same kind of dismissiveness, it can actually work against you.
Instead, you want to focus on projecting confidence and professionalism. When you carry yourself this way, clients are more likely to mirror that back to you. It's really all about balance. Use mirroring to connect with your client at first, but don't let it affect your sense of authority or professionalism.
I'm sure you're thinking about all the times you've been on a job and your client isn't cooperating. Whoever's sitting in your chair, maybe they're distracted, constantly moving, not respecting your time.
What are you supposed to do in these situations? The key is to really assert yourself without being aggressive. And a few things I will say in situations like these, I will say, I just need you to sit still for another five to [00:04:00] 10 minutes so I can make sure everything is looking good and everything is perfect.
Or I'll say things like, we've got five minutes left, so let's. finish it up and make the best of these five minutes that we have. The way I say it and what I say, it's very simple. They are very simple, direct statements that establish boundaries without really being confrontational. When you speak like this, They show that you're in control of the process and are respecting the time constraints of the job.
So the client understands that they also have to follow along with this.
There is always a point in every podcast where I think I say something like, if there is one thing you take away from this podcast, so here is the one thing. Being assertive doesn't mean being difficult or being bitchy.
It means respecting the work that you've set out to do and ensuring you can deliver the results your client hired you for.
And it is okay to be assertive when you have a job to get done.
Another key element of commanding respect [00:05:00] is your body language and posture. And I see this a lot of the times when I'm working with less experienced artists. And I know in myself sometimes how my posture gets when I'm feeling defeated, intimidated. It's something I'm very mindful of and we all have terrible posture from this job anyway.
So it is something I always think about. But when you stand, you want to make sure you're standing tall. You're moving with purpose. You're making eye contact with people that you're speaking with and you're projecting confidence because your body language sends a message before even one thing can come out of your mouth.
If you feel unsure, and I know when I feel this way, my body language, I really start to close up and I kind of stand hunched over and I tend to stay away from people. Just take a minute if you notice yourself doing this, take a couple deep breaths, and just kind of ground yourself. Stand with good posture, breathe deeply, remind yourself of what you're capable of,
when people speak to you, look them in the eye and speak to them directly. It creates an atmosphere of professionalism that clients can [00:06:00] really feel.
I have personally become way more aware of my posture because I see myself a lot on camera, on set, because I'm in a lot of content, my own content. And also when I'm shooting for certain clients, when I see behind the scenes, sometimes I look So tired, defeated. I don't look like the confident artist that I know I can be.
This is something that you do need to think about because people pick up on all these signs that you're putting out.
And something else I just remembered that I wanted to say in terms of overcoming that fear of being difficult. I know some of you might feel uncomfortable asserting yourselves because you don't want to come across as difficult, but I really want to challenge that mindset. Asking a client to respect your time, your workspace, and your process isn't really being difficult.
It is being difficult. Called being professional and in fact most clients will usually respond positively to this type of thing They appreciate when you take charge because it shows that you know what you're doing and for those rare clients who [00:07:00] push back It's not really about you. It's about them. Remember to stick to your boundaries and keep the focus on getting the job done because that's what we're paid to do
I do want to share just a few very simple, easy strategies to help you feel more confident and in control. There's three things that I hope you will return to, think about the next time you're on a job and you're feeling a bit overwhelmed, you're feeling intimidated.
These things will all help, trust me. I've learned how to do this over time. The first thing is preparing your workspace or your workstation. You want to treat your station as your workplace. Office and you want to keep it organized because a clean and professional setup Definitely commands respect on its own when people sit in your chair It's the first thing they look at other than looking at you, of course when your kit is messy and all over the place that doesn't look as professional as it could make sure you're staying clean station and your kit.
They're clean, they're labeled, and when you set up, you're setting up to impress your clients. This is how you show that you're an authority and should be treated as a [00:08:00] professional right from the beginning of the booking. You're similar to me, and I think we all are very similar, we're probably all overthinkers.
If you have had situations in the past where a client has not respected your time, has not respected your abilities as an artist, has not respected whatever is going on on the job that you're working on, you may want to think about a few things that you can say during your bookings to gain that control back.
So if they're talking on their phone, for instance, you can just say, Hey, do you need a minute to make a phone call? I can spare a couple minutes from the booking if you need to go and do that. And that kind of lets them know you're paying attention to how much they're on their phone. It also gives them some space and respect for their time if they do need to take a call.
So that's something I do. I mentioned some of the phrases that I normally say earlier in this podcast, but especially as it relates to timing, I am very much. a person that will say, okay, so I'm supposed to be done your makeup by 10 o'clock. We've got 15 minutes and I just need to [00:09:00] do these last three things.
So if I can just get you to look down for five minutes while I get this liner done and then I can move on to cheeks and lips and we'll have this makeup done by 10 and we'll be on schedule. These are sayings that kind of work for me. And I think what would be helpful is going through some of the situations where you have felt a bit out of control.
Or you've had to assert yourself and think of or practice different ways to be assertive. While communicating to your clients, Hey, I have a job to do. We have a job to do. Let's get this done together. And I find that helps you get control back of the booking. And it lets your clients know, listen, we've got a job to do here.
Practice some of those phrases, sayings, I mentioned a couple, At the end of the day, it is you that sets the tone for how clients treat you. From your initial communication to how you carry yourself during a job, every interaction that you have is an opportunity to establish professionalism, and from that, that's how you're going to get respect [00:10:00] from your clients.
If you're struggling with this, start small. Practice using more confident language. Remember that your work matters and once you start doing this and even just remembering to keep that posture in check and making sure your station stays clean and making sure you're looking at people, listening before you speak, all of this stuff, once you start doing that, it gets much easier because you don't want to come off as an artist that is not confident, that is fearful, that is timid.
This is not going to serve you in this job.
And I think that's all I wanted to share with you for this episode. I hope you got some practical tips and some insights to handle those tricky client situations. As always, if you have any questions, drop them in the comments. If you have some suggestions for topics or things you'd like me to cover in future podcast episodes, you can do all of that in the comments section on my YouTube channel, and I guess I will talk to you next week. Bye.
