When you hear the phrase, “Business Boundary Lines,” do you think of fences with barbed wire on top, block walls, lines on a map, or policies to guide good business practices? I’m hoping you chose the last one – policies to guide good business practices.
You may wonder why would a business need boundary lines after all a business is here to serve it’s customers. That’s a great question and let’s explore three reasons to have good boundaries.
Reason 1: Businesses need to establish hours of operation. This provides customers with standarized days and hours that they know they can contact your business to schedule meetings, conduct business, and purchase services or goods. Without some idea of hours of operation a business runs the risk of being on demand 24/7. No one wants to get a phone or email at 11pm requesting work be completed or inquiring about something? That’s simply no fun! When owning your own business it’s important to schedule personal time, vacation time, holiday time, doctor appointments, and time to meet with potential clients.
Reason 2: Businesses need to establish the types of services that will be offered. If a customer requests something beyond the services typically provided then by all means do not say that you can provide that service. Stick to what you do best! Being a jack-of-all-trades doesn’t make you great at everything. Only offer those services in which you excel.
Reason 3: Businesses need to know their policies and adhere to them. If your policy is to only work virtually – as a virtual assistant – then do not go to an office location to do weekly tasks. I certainly understand that it is helping the customer out but your business is a virtual business. Utilize a remote access utility like LogMeIn or GoToMyPC to do this task. Additionally, if customer wants to drop by your home office to discuss a work project and you’d rather not due to privacy reasons then suggest you meet at their office or a coffee shop. It’s okay to tell the customer that your policies state that you do not offer any on-site consultations.
Each business will have different and varying boundary lines but one thing is the same. All healthy striving businesses DO have boundaries whether written down policies to be distributed or unspoken but conveyed. An example of an unspoken conveyed boundary would be displayed business hours – whether in a business window or on a website. If it says the office closes at 6pm then calling at 6:05pm will mean the caller gets the answering machine with the cheery greeting.
How’s the old saying go, “Good fences makes good neighbors?” The same can apply to business, “Good boundaries make good clients/customers.”
Tell me about your boundaries. Do you have them in place? Are they working? Have you had any boundary issues arise that you needed to take a second look at establishing new boundary lines? I’d like to hear from you.