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: Web Pro Business BlogFreelancing: Handling the Midnight Client Call
One point that came up from my last post (3 Golden Rules For Working From Home) was; how to handle phone calls during and after normal business hours, whilst working from home. There are three basic scenarios:
1. Client call during work hours
Pick up the phone. Using voice mail has its place after hours, but during work hours: pick up the phone. An answering machine says to a client – I’m not here and that (in a client’s mind) can translated to, you being unreliable and you don’t care about their business. Think of it this way: a client takes an extra (perceived) risk using you — a freelancer — as you are not as ‘safe’ to use as a company. Therefore, it is vital that the client ‘feels the love’ and can speak to you during business hours. This helps to reassure them that their business is safe in your hands and you are not some ‘fly by night’ amateur.
2. Personal calls during Work hours
It is pretty standard for your mates or family to call you during work hours at home, and it is an issue you will need to deal with sooner, rather than later. Friends and family …
3 Golden Rules For Working From Home
One of the great things about working from your own home is freedom. Freedom to start work when you want, wear what you want and work the hours that you want. Right? Well actually, probably not.
In reality working from home doesn’t work like that –- well not in my experience anyway. You usually end up working normal business hours plus a few more to boot (though you may still be in your PJs).
Expectations
The main problem with working from home is everyone’s expectations.
- your expectations
- your family and friends expectations
- your clients’/ employer’s expectations
All these expectations create their own pressures that lead to longer working hours and a less than perfect work/life balance. To keep your working hours and sanity in order, these expectations need to be managed and managed carefully.
Your Expectations
When you first start working from home you might think life is going to be all rosy — late starts, time to do all those things during the day you would not normally get time to do. Then, reality strikes: if you want to successfully work from home. You are going to have to work. Then, there are insidious extra pressures that come …
Save the Planet and Save Cash
Now there are lots of good reasons to be more “green”, saving the planet, moral obligation, yadda, yadda, yadda. But, let’s get a bit selfish here — what’s in it for me and my business? I mean, of course there is the feel good factor about doing the “right” thing, but what about saving some cold hard cash?
As it turns out (not too surprisingly), being a bit “green savvy” with your hardware purchases can save you a fair amount of power and money. So, before you buy your next computer here are a few handy resources to help make your decision:
- The Electronic Product Environmental Asset Tool can help you discover the most environmentally sound desktop, laptop and monitor.
- The energy star rating.
- Calculate the savings in terms of money, C02, trees and cars (Excel Spreadsheet).
- Investigate the efficiency of you power supplies at 80 Plus.
- Calculate your server efficiency using the SWaP (Space, Watts and Performance) metric.
You can also check how your current computer performs, using power management tool like LocalCooling for Windows or monitor your CO2 output on OSX using SusiClimate (both free).
Being energy smart with your next computing purchase will save you money. Go on. Save some cash and help …
Are Your Customers Promoting You?
In this post I am going to discuss, how going that extra mile with customer service can make a big difference to the bottom line of your businesses.
Recently the exhaust broke on my car. I needed to get it fixed, but where? Did I take it to the nearest or cheapest place?
Nope. I took it to the place that had repaired the exhaust on my old car 4 years ago — 115 miles (185km) away. Why?
Customer service.
Last time I went there, not only did they do a first class job with the exhaust, but they also went the extra mile with customer service.
- they stayed open past their normal closing time, so we could pick up the car (as we were running late)
- they fixed another minor issue at the same time for no extra charge
- they were friendly and customer centered
- they made the tiresome irritation of a broken exhaust into a positive experience
- they even made our little boy’s day by letting him have a go with a remote control car
At the end of the day - I, as the customer was made to feel special and not like a “walking wallet”. They did what they said they would do …
Business Web Apps: Which Do You Use?
Over the last couple of years there has been a massive increase in the number and diversity of business orientated web applications. All designed to make your business more productive in one way or another, products like:
- Basecamp (project management)
- Gmail (email)
- Remember The Milk (to-do lists)
- Crazy Egg (web site statistics)
- Fresh Books (invoicing and time tracking)
Which business web applications do you use? and why?
Have they improve your business productivity?
Marketplace Users Risk Getting Left Behind
I’ve just been taking a look over some of the early results of the SitePoint Reader Survey.
We’re getting some invaluable feedback about the site — tons of suggestions for things we can improve from forum users, article junkies and blog-addicts. And there are some great ideas are streaming in from old-timers and new visitors alike, which is awesome. One thing concerns me a little, though.
One group of users in particular seem to be under-represented, and that’s those who frequent the Marketplace. Given the huge percentage of traffic that the marketplace accounts for, this is really surprising. Whether these users are too caught up buying and selling web sites to be bothered filling out a 5-minute survey, or perhaps they’re not interested in winning a Wii because they’re worried about it distracting them from concentrating on flipping their latest hot property, I don’t know.
I will say this though — now is your chance to give suggestions for improvement on all avenues of sitepoint.com, including the marketplace. So if you have some firm ideas about what changes you’d like to see happen, you know what to do.
Who knows, you might score yourself a …
Make money from your mistakes
It is possible to profit from your mistakes. Let me tell you a little true story.
“ Once upon a time, one Saturday morning my (then) hosting company accidentally deleted one of my reseller accounts and failed to get the hosting back on-line for 2 and a half days, (the hows and whys of it are not for this post).
As you can imagine, my clients were furious. Even though it was not my error — I was responsible for it. So, once everything was back up and running, what did I do? Did I give them an imaginative excuse, using lots of acronyms and blaming everyone else? No. I sent all the affected clients a personalised email. Apologising and explaining what had happened and what I was doing to prevent it happening again. I sent this email to everyone, even to the clients who had not noticed the outage.
The response to that email was actually incredibly positive:
“Thanks for letting us know”
“I appreciate your honesty”
“Oh, by the way I need “X” doing, can you send me a quote.”
And business continued on happily after…
THE END ”
The moral of the story?
Now, whilst it is not the most exciting story, there is …
What’s wrong?
If you want to find out how good your product/service is — ask what’s wrong with it.
You may think you know what your customers want and need, but that may not be how customer feels about it. An important part of client service is not to find out how great things are going, but to find out what’s not going so well.
Ask your clients for an honest opinion on what they like about your product/service, but more importantly — ask what they didn’t/don’t like. Let them know that you want to improve your service/product and would really appreciate their honest appraisal on anything and everything — no matter how big or small. How can we improve?
Ultimately by engaging your clients, showing that they matter and acting on what they say (if appropriate). You will:
- improve your product/service
- be more competitive
- improve client retention rates
- improve your image
So, what are you waiting for? Find out what’s wrong.
Are you a “green” employee?
There is plenty of talk about how people want to work for environmentally sound businesses and how people are being more environmentally caring at home. However, there is evidence that those same people may not be doing the “right thing” at work. Are you that person?
I have compiled a short list of questions to find out:
- Do you switch off your computer when you finish work?
- Do you use a mug rather than disposable cups?
- Do you print out your emails?
- Do you use public transport or walk/cycle to work?
- Do you recycle any garbage/rubbish you create at work? (I’m not talking about the standard of your work!)
- If you are the last to leave, do you make sure all unnecessary lights and equipment are switched off?
How well did you do?
How to get contract work in three easy steps (Part 3 of 3)
The Follow up Phone Call
Unlike the previous post on the initial email contact, phone conversations tend to be unpredictable. There is no exact blueprint for this type of call, it could go in any direction. I will however, endeavour to give you some advice on how to conduct the call.
The purpose of the call
There are two main purposes to this call:
- establishing that the firm has got your email — It is amazing the number of times that an email is lost or doesn’t get to the right person
- arranging a face-to-face meeting
Keep in Mind
Before you make the call keep these things in mind.
- be polite and courteous
- it could take days or even weeks before you get to talk to the right person in the company
- write down the names of each person you talk to
- keep notes on what was said
- Keep it brief — the other person is likely to be busy
- Remember you are selling a business proposition, your purpose is to add value to the firm you contract for
Who you get to talk to
Your first phone contact is usually the receptionist. Introduce yourself and ask if <Joe Blogs> is available and explain why you are calling.
From here you will either be …
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