Stop promising clients same-day replies, it's killing your margins

I keep seeing freelancers brag about responding to messages within an hour. Tried that for 6 months last year and my actual billable work dropped by 15%. You're training them to expect you on standby 24/7. Set a 24 hour window and stick to it, your real work gets done and they still get an answer well before they need it. Has anyone else noticed their income went up after they slowed down their response time?

3 comments

3 Comments

michael80312d ago

YES! This is one of those things that backfires in a way nobody talks about. Once you make yourself too available, clients start treating your time like a 24/7 convenience store. I noticed my stress actually went down when I stopped jumping on every notification. Setting a boundary made me look MORE professional not less.

shane_wilson12d ago

I mean, is it really that deep though? Like yeah it's annoying when people text at 10pm but it takes two seconds to ignore it and reply in the morning. Seems like a lot of drama over something you can just not answer.

oliviabutler12d ago

Can't believe you actually noticed it made you look more professional tho lol