Ask for what you need to make a business collaboration work for you

This year has brought with it a lot of good: a lift in physical health, sunshine (literally and metaphorically), and creative renewal.

It’s also (thankyouthankyouthankyou) brought new clients that have turned into regulars. In fact, I’m at a place now where constant marketing outreach is no longer necessary. My fellow freelance writers know what a drain it is to always be in sales mode, and I’m so grateful to simply be working now.

That doesn’t mean it’s all rainbows without rain, though: I still allow my schedule to bloat with projects until I just about burst. Today’s one of those days.

Let me set the scene.

1. Daycare is closed.

2. My kids are too young for the COVID vaccine, so alternate childcare options are limited.

3. I try not to rely too often on the TV as a babysitter.

4. I still have a business to run and deadlines to meet, despite children racing in and out of my office for help putting on capes and pulling apart Legos.

So when Client A’s email came in asking if I’d received a previous email, followed 45 minutes later by the same question from Client B, something had to be done.

Yes, I’d received their emails. (We’ve always received the emails, haven’t we?) No, I hadn’t responded yet, as Client A’s email was sent 24 hours earlier, and Client B’s email came in the Friday before Memorial Day. It was now Wednesday morning, and they’d assigned a one-week turnaround for a case study outline. It was due two days from today.

Eek. What a pickle. There’s no way I could meet that deadline without sacrificing quality and sanity.

I took a deep breath and emailed Client B, in part:

I do want to check in about the case study outline’s due date, though: Preparing an outline is when the majority of research happens, and that takes several days. A one-week turnaround for an outline is tight, since I’m also balancing other client projects with staggered deadlines. Would it set you back if the outline arrived Monday, June 6, instead? That would give me the weekend to commit more time to it, and if we could aim for a two-week lead time in the future, that would be great!

I gritted my teeth when hitting Send. Was the tone right? Is it asking too much? Is it unrealistic for clients to provide more lead time?

I decided it doesn’t matter, because when I’m stressed about not having enough time to properly complete a project, no one wins.

My gritted teeth became a smile at her reply 10 minutes later. She said, essentially, no prob. Let’s push the deadline, and we’ll factor in a two-week lead time from now on.

Because she’s a professional. She’s an understanding, accommodating client who respects me, and likewise.

And now I respect myself for asking for what I need. It makes a world of difference to know I can now pace this project so that I’m proud of the product I’ll turn in.

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