How to turn away clients when your docket is full — without pissing people off or wrecking your future income.

You’re a one-person show and you’re providing a service. And you only have so many hours in the day. At some point, especially if you’ve been at your game long enough, you may find yourself with a full docket and clients banging on the door, wanting in. Now.

You can’t possibly work 24 hours. So what’s a good tarot reader (or other service provider) to do when you’ve got more work than you can handle?

Do this:

Express gratitude. Start by being grateful for this is a beautiful problem to have. Give thanks to your clients, the Universe, your lucky stars, all of it. Too much work is better than none at all.

Be honest and upfront about your capacity. Ex: if you can only do 10 sessions per month, and 8 have already been snapped up, update your website accordingly. Say it!

Resist the urge to take on more work than you can handle. It can be hard to say no, especially if a client is laying on a guilt trip. Taking on work because you’re being strong armed into it is never a good practice for you – or the client. This is the fastest path to burn-out and resentment. Say no and be firm (but always kind).

Adjust your workload if necessary. For example, I originally offered ten Tarotcasts (a specialty tarot product) a week. But I quickly discovered that I needed to limit myself to five instead. Why? I want to provide speedy service and also have space for my other work (and a life). So, I changed this up and informed my clients.

Emphasize that you’re a “quality over quantity” service provider. Explain that you limit your number of client bookings for a reason: so that you can provide top-notch, timely, tuned-in service to everyone on your calendar. Clients are going to be less annoyed with a wait if they know that you are doing this because you care about the quality of your work.

Create a wait list. Offer first dibs for clients who are on the list. Once you are ready to accept new work, send out an email to your wait list before making it available to the general public.

Offer people an alternative product / service or a “while you’re waiting…” option whenever possible. Maybe your 1-on-1 slots are full… but you’ve got a terrific group program / workshop / e-book / resource that might be a good fit, instead? Have a variety of different things that you can offer and keep ’em happy until they can get on your calendar.

Make referrals when appropriate. If you’re booked out for months and months, put together a list of service providers (in your field) that you like and respect. Pass their names along. Be generous. Your clients will be grateful. Your peers will be grateful. Overall? Everyone will adore you even more than they ever thought possible… and want to get on your client calendar EVEN more! 🙂

Obviously, this is a very happy “problem” to have! Some people will be jealous. Others will be impressed. Many people will want to hire you now… more than ever. Just keep doin’ your thang. Be gracious. Be a pro. And always remember: regardless of whether you are fully booked right now, or not, the BEST way to get more clients in the future is to ASTONISH and DELIGHT the clients you’ve got right now!

Blessings!

Theresa

image from stock photography