The Simple Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Professional Boundaries That Stop After-Hours Client Interruptions
Ever answered a client call during your kid’s birthday party? Replied to “urgent” texts at 9pm about paint colours? You’re not alone… BUT you’re not stuck with it.
Most builders think being available 24/7 shows dedication. In reality, it’s killing your reputation, your relationships, and your peace of mind. Here’s how to set professional business hours that transform your business overnight.
Picture this: It’s Saturday morning. You’re finally having breakfast with your family when your phone buzzes. Another client text about a “quick question” that turns into a 45-minute conversation about door handles.
Sound familiar?
If you’re a custom residential builder who’s tired of clients treating you like their personal 24/7 helpline, learning how to set professional business hours might be the most important skill you develop this year.
Every other business in Australia has operating hours, except yours. Your clients know they can’t rock up to Bunnings at midnight or call their accountant during Sunday lunch. But somehow, they think your building business is fair game for calls, texts, and “quick visits” at all hours.
Here’s what’s really happening. Every time you answer that after-hours call, you’re training your clients that your time has no value. You’re teaching them that your family dinner is less important than their bathroom tile question. You’re setting yourself up for months of boundary-pushing because once you’ve answered at 8pm on a Tuesday, they know you’re available whenever they want you.
Professional boundaries aren’t about being difficult, they’re about being professional. And the builders who set them don’t lose clients; they attract better ones.
So what changes when you set professional business hours?
Your clients respect you more.
Your family gets uninterrupted time with you.
Your stress levels drop.
And ironically, your business runs smoother because everyone knows when and how to communicate effectively.
Setting professional business hours is simpler than you think.
Watch the video now, or read the transcript below. Be sure to also subscribe to the Live Life Build YouTube channel.
Amelia
I often hear custom residential builders complaining that clients are always calling, they’re always messaging, and they’re always changing their mind.
Navigating client relationships like this can be really taxing and draining because they seem to always want a piece of the builder and always want the builder to be on.
Duayne
I really like this one because this is one of the most simple ones that you can get changed instantly. I can’t believe that I didn’t understand it for a very long time. It’s my business, so I can operate it however I want.
One of the simplest things you can do is have business hours. Something as simple as having business hours on your email signatures and on every document that a client sees. If you want, you can put it on your voice messages, and those types of things.
It just makes sense that every other business has operating hours, so why should a building business be contacted by clients at all hours, after hours, and weekends?
I’ve heard so many stories of builders getting phone calls or text messages from their clients while they’re out to dinner with their family, on a weekend, or out on a date night. That just shouldn’t happen.
It’s disrespectful but it happens, because builders allow it to happen. Unless we set those boundaries and tell our clients, “Hey, this is our business hours” then I guess, what do you expect?
Amelia
I find it really interesting that builders expect to be treated like a professional, but they won’t actually set up the rules and the structure in their business to behave like a professional. And when a client is going through this for the very first time, they’re going to take the cue from the builder as to what they can and can’t do.
So, if you as a builder are not setting business hours about how you operate rules of communication, about when a client and how a client can get in touch with you, then you can’t be surprised when a client is doing something like that. They are personally and financially invested in making their project happen, so they’re going to feel they can contact the builder at any point.
From the work that we do with builders, and the hundreds of builders we’ve worked with, builders are naturally people-pleasers. There can be a lot of fear and concern that if I don’t make myself one hundred percent available to a client at all times, that client’s going to be annoyed, they’re going to be frustrated, they might walk away, and I might lose this project. They confuse this access and availability with good business practice, and the reverse is actually the case.
I find it really interesting that builders expect to be treated like a professional, but they won’t actually set up the rules and the structure in their business to behave like a professional.
– Amelia
Duayne
The more access you give your clients to you, the more issues you’re going to have. It can be a hard thing. A lot of the time it’s happening because as builders, we’re on the tools, we’re working normal business hours that people are working, and so quite often, we’re doing office work after hours and those types of things.
The thing is, once you set your business hours, you can’t break them. So you can’t be expecting a client not to contact you on weekends or after hours. And that’s everything: email, text messages, phone calls. But it’s okay for you to do that.
The other thing that happens a lot, which we see from our members, and I know from personal experience is that builders are setting these expectations from the very first point of contact. A client might drive past a job site on a weekend and see their number and give them a call, or they might call after hours and the builder answers. As soon as you’ve done that once, you have set an expectation that they can call you anytime.
Something as simple as setting business hours and then being really strict with yourself and everybody else in your business. If your business is at a size where you’ve got supervisors or other people that communicate with your clients, everybody has to have those same hours. So it’s very easy for your clients to know that outside of those work hours they cannot contact anybody.
Amelia
I think the important thing is to work out what’s going to be the best way of applying this into your business. Set up the communication tools and templates to be able to navigate that more confidently, so that it’s the very first communication that you have with a client.
You explain to them:
these are our business hours,
this is how you can communicate with us,
this is how we communicate during our projects,
this is what you can expect from us.
You’ll find that clients will love that they understand the boundaries within which they’re working with you. They know that this isn’t a case that they can never talk to you, but they know when they can talk to you. They know that you’re still available to discuss things with them, and immediately that gives them the opportunity to start building a relationship of trust and connection within the boundaries that you’ve set for your own business.
Duayne
It’s funny because the industry has created this problem, and we continue to let it happen. Whereas, there’s so many ways you can explain this. If you own a Toyota, you don’t go and drop your car off to Toyota at 7pm at night, or you don’t ring up the Toyota dealership and say, “Hey, I’m working, I’ll come and drop my car off when I’m finished.” The person dropping the car off has to fit into the working hours of Toyota, and it’s the same.
I feel like there’s this thing with the construction industry that, because it’s not a premises, because we’re working on someone else’s site, the people that own that site feel like they take ownership of the people working on that site. In reality, that job site is no different to a Toyota dealership, or a Woolies, or a doctor’s surgery, or any of those types of things. Every other business out there, takeaway stores or whatever it is, have business hours. It’s really up to the industry to make sure we set clear working hours and we stand by those hours.
Amelia
It can feel like a really personal undertaking for a client and they feel like they’re dealing with an individual as this builder or business owner. It’s that person to person relationship. But if you want to actually run a business, you need to operate like a business, and that means setting the rules and expectations on how your clients work with you.
How to Set Professional Business Hours Starting Tomorrow
If you’re reading this thinking “but my clients will leave me,” you’re probably working with the wrong clients. Professional clients respect professional boundaries. The ones who don’t respect boundaries are usually the ones who don’t respect invoices either.
Here’s exactly how to set professional business hours in your building business:
Step 1: Define Your Hours
Add business hours to your email signature, something like “Business Hours: Monday-Friday 7am-5pm. We respond to all enquiries within 24 hours during business days.”
Step 2: Update All Communication Channels
Update your voicemail message to include your hours and when callers can expect a response.
Step 3: Communicate the Change
Send a brief, professional message to current clients explaining your new communication policy. Most will respect it immediately.
Builders in our ELEVATE programme who learn how to set professional business hours report sleeping better, enjoying weekends again, and ironically, having stronger client relationships. When you respect your own time, your clients learn to respect it too.
Setting professional business hours isn’t just about protecting your personal time, it’s about building a business that works for you, not against you.
And that’s exactly what separates struggling builders from thriving ones: the willingness to operate like the professional you are.