9 Things to Say When You Know You Should Say No to a Client
You know the moment. Someone asks for something you didn't want to give, a discount, five more minutes, a reply at half nine on a Sunday, and you say yes anyway. You always do. This is nine of those exact moments, and the actual words to use instead, written by someone who's said yes to every single one of them too.
Ashleigh here. I run Not a Life Coach, and I still have to talk myself into sending the invoice sometimes.
100% FreeI need to stop saying yes
Does any of this sound familiar?
Nine situations that turn up again and again if you run a service business on your own. You'll probably recognise most of them. Here's what to actually say when they do.
The oven while she's already there
The cleaner asked to just quickly do the oven. The joiner whose tools are already out, so surely he can fix the shelf too. It's never a one-off once you've said yes the first time.
The line's inside.The cancellation an hour before
Something's come up, they're really sorry, and because you're decent you say don't worry about it. That hour's not coming back though, and neither is the client you turned away to keep it free.
The line's inside.The cousin who needs "helping out"
Before you've even said a number, there's an assumption that because they know you, the price is negotiable. Charge full price and it's awkward. Discount it and it never quite goes away.
The line's inside.The mate's rate that travelled
Your friend told her friend, and somehow the friend's already expecting the rate you gave your mate. Nobody told her it was a one-off. Now you're the one explaining it.
The line's inside.The invoice that's gone quiet
You did the work, you sent the invoice, and then nothing. Chasing money feels rude in a way that almost nothing else about running a business does, even though you're just asking to be paid.
The line's inside.The wince after you say the price
You say the number, there's a pause, and you hear yourself offering a lower one before you've thought it through. Not because the job's worth less. Just because the silence felt unbearable.
The line's inside.The appointment that runs long
They were finishing a call, the kids needed sorting, whatever it was. Now you're rushing the next job to make up someone else's fifteen minutes, and it always seems to move onto you.
The line's inside.The text at half nine on a Sunday
Nothing urgent, just a question, but you answer anyway because leaving it till morning feels difficult somehow. Except the second you reply, that's officially when you're reachable now.
The line's inside.The fee you're too guilty to add
It's sitting right there in your terms, or it would be if you'd ever enforced them. You leave it off the invoice because charging for it feels like making a big deal out of something small.
The line's inside.Help me say no
Nine lines, straight to your inbox, ready for whenever the next awkward client message lands. No workbook to work through first, just the words.
This is for you if…
- You say yes when you mean no, then spend the rest of the day quietly annoyed about it.
- You've got a policy or a price in your head that you've never actually said out loud to a client.
- You already know exactly which client is taking advantage. You just freeze when it happens again.
- You don't want to become a different person. You just want the words ready before the next ask lands.
You don't have to use these exactly as written. Say them your way, badly if you need to the first time. Just have something ready, because the next one's probably closer than you think.