Say “no”, when you need to say “no”.

Say “no” when you need to say “no”. Realize that you were hired to be an expert. So, don’t feel bad for being an expert. If you are asked to do something that you know is impossible, say no. Recently, I had a client who wanted their group to go on a fly-fishing trip in two hours. It simply wasn’t possible. The trip to the river and back was at least 45 minutes and the distance from the put-in to the take-out was at least 2 hours. Not to mention, fishing takes time. Even three hours would have made for a very rushed trip. When pushed, I explained I was happy to give the group leader my recommendation for a fly-fishing guide, but I simply wasn’t willing to put my name on a 2-hour trip knowing it was impossible. I was firm, and eventually they listened, and the participants had a blast on their four-hour round-trip fishing trip.

Be an active listener. People tell you what you want to hear all the time. Active listening requires you to pay attention to words, actions and non-verbal cues. I was helping a client plan a 2-day conference and explaining all the benefits of having a conference APP; i.e. more communication opportunities with the attendees, better networking between attendees, a way to showcase sponsors, paper and printer savings, etc. The client acted excited, but as the event got closer, he just wasn’t ready to commit. The APP was something I wanted, but when I really listened, I realized he did not feel his attendees would use it and therefore, the APP was not needed.

Always say “please” and “thank you”. Be friendly. Enough said.

Set expectations. Be consistent. If you tell a client, you’ll get back to them this week, get back to them this week. If you are not able to find the answer they need in that timeline, still get back to them in the allotted time and be honest. If you expect to be paid every month, include that in your contract with consequences if you don’t get paid. Relationships go so much better if everyone starts out on the same page and is held accountable.

Over-communicate. I cannot stress this one enough. Using the fly-fishing example again, that group was required to have fishing licenses. No license, no fishing. I emailed them, I called them, I emailed them again and checked in with all of them the morning of just to make sure they had their licenses. It was a lot of communication, but it was critical, and they were able to fish.