Communication with your clients

These past few weeks have been very busy with my walk-in bathtubs client. We have been dealing with some email issues that should not have taken this long to resolve. Why do host companies have to make things so difficult? Any way, I have learned a great deal from this experience. As a work at home parent you have to be even more resourceful than if you were working in an office environment. You also have to be sure to stay in close contact with your client so they know you are working to get the issues resolved. Communication is very important when your working out of a home office since you never have the opportunity for face to face meetings.

Thanks to technology it's easier to be resourceful and to be able to communicate well with your clients. Many vendors offer alternatives to an 800# which you usually end up wasting time on hold with any way. For example, many vendors offer online chats and/or a technical support email address where they can create a ticket for tracking and follow-up. If it's a vendor you deal with on a regular basis, oftentimes they will offer a point of contact person (account manager) that you can contact directly. Use as many of these resources as possible.

In regards to communicating with your client, there are very obvious ways to do this well.

Email- with email you can keep a history and manage follow-ups so you can be sure you are answering questions and getting things resolved.

Phonecall- Usually a simple phone call letting your client know the status of a situation will help them feel comforted that you are working to get the problem(s) solved.

Teleconference- Same as a phonecall, however in a teleconference you can speak with several individuals including the vendor(s) which can save time and hassle.

I/M- Instant messaging is a great way to chat with your client or co-workers as you are working through a problem. It's real time and you can swap documents, links and more which you can't do as easily on the phone.

These are just a few tools you can use as a work at home individual to ensure you are meeting your clients needs.

It also helps if you have wonderful clients which I happen to be lucky enough to have!