As a service provider my job is to make my clients happy and to not stress them out or overwhelm them. As a business owner, my biggest pet peeve are service providers who waste my time and make unnecessary busy work for me.
Today’s a good example. I had a call with a service provider. It was a video call scheduled for a half hour. I was on the link sent to me on time. About 8 minutes later I received a phone call from the person I was scheduled to talk to. And I mentioned I only had the 30 minutes so now only had 20, so we need to be efficient with our time. And then we spoke for about 15 minutes and it was to tell me 3 things that very easily could have been in an email (I need a credit card on file, pick a template you like from this link, anything specific we should focus on?) Needless to say I left the call annoyed and wishing they were more respectful of my time.
What processes should you have in place that could make your clients time more efficient?
I have a few checklists that I use for clients, including my Newsletter Setup Checklist where I ask my clients for everything I need to get their newsletter setup. Once I have it, I can get started. After about a week I check in and let them know what I’m missing. And, sometimes if they seem to not want to do it or are dragging their feet I will offer to setup a call to walk them through it. I don’t mind spending a half hour or hour on the phone to walk through my checklist if it’s easier for them. But my job is to make their life easier not stress them out or annoy them with unnecessary meetings.
The next time you schedule a meeting or call, make sure that everyone has what they need up front and that the meeting is necessary. YES you should have face time with your clients and talk to them regularly. But don’t annoy them before the ink dries!
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