Each and every complaint we have about our clients can be solved with one thing: Open Communication.
We must get off our high-horses of “students should know better.” Really? Should they?
No one can teach our clients how it works in our voice studio except us.
We are the ones who are response-able. We are able to respond with kindness, generosity, and information. We are able to respond by solving problems, instead of complaining about them.
Stop blaming your voice studio students…
- for being late.
- for not practicing.
- for not reading the policies.
- for being “lazy”.
- for being “impatient”.
- for being busy.
Stop blaming you students for missed payments.
- ignoring boundaries.
- hovering at lessons.
- asking for copies of music, again.
Hard truth: We are not the only thing on our clients’ minds.
We forget things all the time. We reschedule. We ask for grace. We forget to answer texts, or emails, or to copy music. And many of us learned singing in an environment that didn’t have half the distractions our students (and their parents!) have today.
Of course it’s frustrating when someone pushes hard against the boundaries we set for our business. Of course!
Nine times out of ten, our students aren’t doing it on purpose, or because they are maliciously manipulating us. They are doing it because it’s not clear where a boundary is.
Our clients are pushing the boundaries in our business because we have not made it clear where a boundary is.
A kind and gentle “Hey fabulous! Here is my boundary!” is the best way to honor both ourselves and our clients.
- If someone isn’t paying, we ask them to pay.
- If someone is impatient, we ask what problem feels urgent, and how can we help?
- If someone demands more of our time than we want to give, we set aside the text/email until our next working hours.
Yep. We get suuuuuuuuper uncomfortable.
My observation is that the discomfort comes from inside of us ~ fearing and angst over being secure in our boundaries. Fear that students will leave. Angst that the conversation will be hard.
Guess what? Some will leave. Conversations will be hard. And that will make you more courageous next time, a whole lot more peaceful, knowing you did what was best for you, your studio, and your business. WOOT.
XoXoXo
P.S. To feel confident in our policies, studio culture, and boundaries, we need to feel confident that we did our homework around getting it all lined up!
Stay tuned, because after many months of being asked to put together a program that helps small business owners tackle these exact problems… and I have!
The 10 month framework, “How to Run Your Studio Without Hating Your Boss Accelerator™” is NOW AVAILABLE!!!!
Click here to learn more.
P.P.S Thanks for the brilliant name idea, Libby!
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