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Tweetables:
You can easily tell the clients that appreciate you and the clients that don’t.
#vatip 
Gotta Tweet!
Your client could be a wonderful person, but if you hate the task you agree to, that’s another issue. #vatipGotta Tweet!
Your client could be a wonderful person, but if you hate the task you agree to, that’s another issue. #vatip Gotta Tweet!
In Words:
Today, we’re going to talk about shutting down for the holidays. It’s New Year’s Eve. Why do I always say that? Last week I said New Year’s Eve and that’s not what I mean. I’m ready for the New Year. How about that? I totally skipped over Christmas. Cannot skip over Christmas. Jesus is the reason for the season, and just when I think about that, I get emotional about it.
My favorite Christmas carol is “Mary, Did You Know” simply because it forces us to think about everything that had to take place for Jesus to come into the world, and then I think about Mary. You think about her as a person and then the questions that are asked in the song. Did you know your baby would walk on water? Did you know the baby you deliver would someday deliver you? I mean, that song is powerful. We’re going to have to link to it so you can hear it. If anybody’s interested in hearing the song, we’re going to link up to it in the show notes on the website.
Let’s dive into the episode today. We’re talking about shutting down for the holidays.
This question came about because I received a message from one of my wonderful clients and she was asking if I would be available over the next couple of weeks or if I would be shutdown for the holidays, and I was happy to tell her that, no, I would be available. Then I thought about it and I remember when I first started, I would say the first and second Christmas, so that would have been Christmas ’08 and Christmas ’09. I can remember wishing that I had shut down because I was getting last minute urgent requests and I didn’t appreciate feeling like I was being thrown something to do and then the person just was gone. Okay, you got it. You know, without waiting to see if I had questions or anything like that.
So when I heard from my client, I had to think what has changed since that time up to now? Because even now if a client needs something unexpectedly, I am happy to serve them, and so I really thought about that thing and what has happened is that I have narrowed my client list down to WONDERFUL clients, and I say that in all caps. WONDERFUL clients. I’ve narrowed it down.
Wonderful for me are clients who respect me as a person and they are considerate. They are thoughtful. They are appreciative, and they know what I bring to the table and how I make a difference for their business, which goes back to respecting me as a person and appreciating all that I do. You can easily tell the clients that do that from the clients that don’t. Because words don’t mean a whole lot. It’s really through action. Someone could easily say, “I’m so sorry to bother you. I know it’s 8:30 at night but….” You know, “I’m so sorry to bother you. I know it’s Friday at 3:00 but….”
It’s so funny, that same client I used to email and ask questions that would never get answered, but her emails, she would always expect me to reply and if I didn’t reply within a few hours she’s like, “Oh my gosh, I’m so worried about you.” You know, that’s what the emails sounded like to me, and I would get frustrated because she’s getting all the other emails. When the invoice emails come it’s like, “Oh no, I didn’t see it. It got lost.” I get that stuff happens, but it was just funny because all the other emails would get through, and hers, you know, I must have died or something because I didn’t respond to her email.
That’s just a wild, crazy example of being taken advantage of and not being respected, regardless of what was said in the words and even how much you’re being paid. That doesn’t even matter. I recently let that client go and I’m so glad I did. You have to stick to your guns and not be – you’re a business owner, man. [Laughs]
Anyway, now I’m happy to serve all of my wonderful clients. If they need anything during the holiday, you know, I’m happy to serve. Not only do I enjoy working with them, I enjoy the work that I do for them. That’s another thing is enjoying the work that you do for them because they could be a wonderful person, but if you hate the task you agree to, that’s another issue.
Now, a year from now I might feel totally different. I’m married. I don’t have any children. So that could be a difference as well. My business is my baby right now along with my husband who’s also my baby. [Laughs] Funny. Funny.
But anyway, things change and sometimes our feelings and opinions about something have everything to do with what’s underneath that. What’s the root of it, you know? What’s the root of it?
If you find yourself like, oh, I need a break. This is too much. I can’t take it. Look at the root of it. It might not have anything to do with the task, but the people involved or vice versa. It might have something to do with the task and not the people.
Are you shut down right now for the holiday?
It’s cool if you are. If you’ve decided not to be shutdown, that’s cool too. Hey, just because you stay open for the holiday, doesn’t mean you’re going to get any requests for the holiday because your client might be totally shutdown themselves and not have anything. So it could work out in the end. You just never know.
In the downtime, it’s a perfect opportunity to really plan out 2016.
What are you going to do differently? What worked this year? What didn’t work this year? Who stays on the client roster? Who should go? The ones that should go, let them know now. Give them a timeframe. Go ahead and do it. Just send it. Don’t even think about it. Because what will happen is that same thought will keep coming up. Every single week, every single time they email you, it’ll just keep coming up over and over and over again.
Now, because this is Christmas Eve, I’m going to keep today’s episode nice and short, and I just wanted to share that with you.
Everybody’s holiday will look completely different. But regardless of whether you’re open or you’re shutting down, start planning out for January. If you didn’t get a chance to listen to episode 41, I strongly encourage you to listen to episode 41 where I talk about what we do this month determines what will happen in 2016. We don’t have any time to wait.
Merry Christmas and I’ll be back next week when it will be New Year’s Eve and I can wish you happy New Year then. But for now, Merry Christmas. Enjoy your family and come on over to my Facebook page. I’ll be there over the holidays.
Thanks so much for tuning in. If you like what you heard, stay tuned. We’ll be back. Tell me what’s going on with you. Come on over the Facebook page: facebook.com/tiffanyparsonbiz, or if you prefer a little shorter message, come on over to Twitter: @tiffanydparson.
See you next time.
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