Having serious client communication issues...

[thecomputerguy]

I've let to go on for far too long, mainly out of laziness because it's just easier to respond to clients when they contact me by inappropriate means but now it's getting crazy out of hand, and by continuing this practice I'm implying it's OK.

If I'm on a job for more than an hour then I start getting really stressed out because my phone blows up with phone calls, people that don't leave voicemail's, people that leave voicemail's, text messages, picture messages, and emails. Text messages are the worst because then they get lumped into the same box as all my family and friends who somehow have time to text in group messages all day long. So I've started missing things because I get contacted by so many different avenues

This leaves me back at my car looking through My call log, my voicemail box, my text messages, and my email just to figure out who was trying to contact me, it drives me absolutely nuts especially when I get a text message that implies they want answers or troubleshooting over text message.

I typically never reply by text message, I just wait until I'm available and call them. The only time I use text is to say "I'll be there at X time", Which somehow invites the customer to text me paragraphs of issues at a later date on a Saturday at 9pm.

I've tried having a copy and paste response which basically said, "Thank you for your message but this number is unable to reply to text messages, please email us at xxx@xxx.com, and we look forward to working with you!".

The result of this test was that people would not email me, or they were offended because they want to be special, and I either called them back in regards to the text message implying I do respond to text message, or I lose the job.

My preferred method of contact is email because it's just more convenient for me, it's much easier to track past conversations for reference, and it allows the client to brief me on what's going on so I know how I need to allocate my time to assist them, and whether it even makes sense to contact them immediately i.e. The client obviously needs remote support and I'm 50 miles away on a 2 hour appointment and calling them to tell them I'll call you back is simply a waste of time.

I really dislike phone calls because I'm usually ALWAYS working so I miss calls, so many times I'm in a clients office, or driving and the phone call basically equates to telling them I have to login later, I have to call them back later, or we have to setup an appointment. Then I have to remember when I park to not get distracted until I schedule these things.

They call me, they leave a voicemail, I call them I leave a voicemail, they call me back and we find out I just have to call them back later for remote support. It's such a waste of time.

Obviously only having one phone is part of the issue but without some somewhat drastic changes including getting an additional phone number I can't solve this easily and being a one man show obviously has it's challenges.

I have Kabuto installed in almost 250 computers and I've showed every one of them how to use it to submit a request for service and probably less than 10 actually use it.

I suppose I probably need a ticketing system. Does anyone have suggestions?

I'm also afraid that referring people to my ticketing system will result in the same response as when I told them to email me instead of texting and they'll just ignore it and I'll lose the work because they don't care enough to follow my directions.

Maybe I'm just a grump.

 

[E Bell]

That's why I used Google Voice. Google Voice allows me to have one place to

• See all calls
• Check voicemail if they left one or receive via email
• Has "texting" as well - I even use texting as via GV as email sometimes. Got spoiled with Messages on a Mac.I don't have a problem texting, I have a problem with the small "keyboard".
• I can access it from anywhere there is Internet access. Even if I leave my phone "at home".

GV also allows me to set "do not disturb" or use follow-me if I so desire. I hardly ever give out my actual cell phone number anymore. When I was employed, I would create a new GV for each employer and give them that number and use that in the GAL. That way when I left I just delete the account. Works for those customers that are "special" as well.

I've tried ticketing systems, and even have one. Email to this address and a ticket will get created. It is in my email signature. What do they do? Call me. In my MSP contract, I state if you call you get charged. If you email or create a ticket no charge. What do they do? Call me...

 

[thecomputerguy]

That's why I used Google Voice. Google Voice allows me to have one place to

• See all calls
• Check voicemail if they left one or receive via email
• Has "texting" as well - I even use texting as via GV as email sometimes. Got spoiled with Messages on a Mac.I don't have a problem texting, I have a problem with the small "keyboard".
• I can access it from anywhere there is Internet access. Even if I leave my phone "at home".

GV also allows me to set "do not disturb" or use follow-me if I so desire. I hardly ever give out my actual cell phone number anymore. When I was employed, I would create a new GV for each employer and give them that number and use that in the GAL. That way when I left I just delete the account. Works for those customers that are "special" as well.

I've tried ticketing systems, and even have one. Email to this address and a ticket will get created. It is in my email signature. What do they do? Call me. In my MSP contract, I state if you call you get charged. If you email or create a ticket no charge. What do they do? Call me...

I do wish that I had the same foresight as I do now back when I start 3.5 years ago. I honestly didn't know if it was even going to work so I didn't put a ton of planning into starting up, it was basically just ... start answering the phone and we'll see where we are at in 3 months, maybe I'll be at McDonalds by then. Thankfully it did work but now I have to fix things.

I suppose the easiest thing to separate the two would be to get a new personal phone number. But that still doesn't solve the issue with getting contacted 5 different ways.

 

[Markverhyden]

@thecomputerguy one needs to spend some money to make some money. Several years ago I got a second cell phone just for business. Took a while, maybe 6 months, but got all of my customers on that number. Personally I prefer voice, I'll usually answer, have a quick conversation with an action for the customer. But I do realize that these days many use SMS. So I'll have all business SMS going to that number.

 

[sapphirescales]

You need to answer your phone at all times, even when on site. Then schedule a time to actually talk to them immediately. It's easier for me because I charge by the job and not by the hour so my client's don't think I'm talking on their dime, but if you don't take the calls you usually don't get the business. If it's a past client with a problem, you just have to schedule them for the next available time on your calendar. Use a cloud based calendar like Google Apps so you can add / view appointments on your phone and computer. If you don't accept texts then don't accept texts. Explain to them that you get a notification when you get a text message (this is why you're calling them back), but your business line doesn't even allow you to see the texts and all you know is that you got one from their number. It's a lie, but it's helped keep clients from texting me over the years.

I used Google Voice in the past and found it to be unreliable. And I'm nervous as hell using a "free" service that Google says they can discontinue at any time. What happens to my number if they discontinue it? It's not like I can transfer the number back to Verizon or any other "normal" carrier.

If you're so busy that you can't handle the influx of calls/texts/emails, then it might be time to hire your first employee. You can only do so much yourself. Having someone to answer the phone calls for you can really take a load off your mind.

 

[timeshifter]

My preferred method of contact is email because it's just more convenient for me

I'm going to say you don't get to choose how they contact you. It's up to your clients to choose what works best for them. If you try to shoehorn them into what you like it makes you harder for them to do business with.

 

[timeshifter]

I feel your pain brother..

on a Saturday at 9pm

How about while you're eating Thanksgiving dinner with your family?

Or Christmas dinner a year later?

 

[fencepost]

I tell clients they can text me at any time, and that if I'm not available I'll ignore their messages. Despite being doctors they seem to have enough common sense to not actually text when it's really late at night.

For medical practices with docs that connect remotely I'd rather have them tell me about problems the night before rather than start hearing about them at 8AM when staff starts getting in.

 

[Krynn72]

Ticketing System! Then stick to it. Get an email address like ITSupport@TCG.com that then talks to your ticketing system. It will give you an easy way to keep track of tickets, see what customers are eating up the most time, give you a non personal way to communicate back so they don't feel like you're just their pal they can big all the time about minor tech gripes.

Then a Google voice or other system with a dedicated support number. This number is strictly emergency only! Any calls to it are answered immediately or responded to within 30 minutes, and all tickets created by calls to this line include an emergency availability fee of XX dollars or maybe all tickets generated from calls to this number are charged at emergency rates.

 

[Diggs]

+1 for GV. It keeps all communication in one place extremely well documented and has been rock solid for years for me. I find the translated voicemail to email in almost real time to be indispensable. Can't beat the price and Google has been spending time on the UI recently so it appears to be well maintained.

Freshdesk offers a free and robust ticketing systems. I've heard good things but not a user myself.

 

[Mr. Ingram's Computer Repair & Shoppe]

I pay Spectrum for a "business line" in shoppe, and I have google hangouts on my phone with the the call add-on, so I have 4 numbers total:

1. In shoppe number that I advertise.
2. Business cell number that I use to forward business calls when out on a job. (customers will slowly get this number, but I don't advertise it, so it stays silent unless I forward a number to it.)
3. Personal cell phone for family/friends.
4. Anony number for craigslist/facebook market place/1-time contact with people.

I like have my personal number and google voice for business number both on my cell, 1 device, two different ringtones.

Thankfully people in my service area are decent enough to only call my business number/email/facebook message my business page.

Now there are two business customers that do have my personal cell number, but they are business clients first and friends second, and they understand, so it works out!

 

[nlinecomputers]

You need a ticket system. If only because I can guarantee that you are failing to note things and this are not billing people for hours or even equipment. Tech's that do it all in their heads are giving away the store, literally.

If answering the phone on site for you is a problem then you need to hire someone or get a service to handle your phones.

 

[timeshifter]

Freshdesk offers a free and robust ticketing systems. I've heard good things but not a user myself.

I could use something like this. Tried Repairshopr last year but didn't like it. Is that from the people who do Freshbooks? I use QuickBooks Online, would be nice if something tied into that and tsheets which I use for timekeeping.

 

[TAPtech]

I have a bit of this issue as well, mainly with texts to my business line or cell phone. I don't give out my cell phone number, but a few people have it, and it's tough to get them to stop using it. If they call my cell, the first thing i ask is that they use my work number instead, and close the conversation with that as well. It isn't very professional, but if they keep calling that number, I stop answering their calls. I call them back from my work phone. If it keeps going I just don't reply. It isn't large businesses that do this, it's the annoying problem clients. every. time. EDIT: I wanted to clarify the above- if you call my business line, my cell is in the ring group. This way I can track and manage the calls.

If someone texts my business line it will autoreply with "This number does not receive texts, please email support@taptechit.com". Texts are just really hard to funnel properly into my ticket system. It is a good way to initiate a conversation, but a horrible way to communicate about a technical problem.

Be upfront about it. If you don't want to deal with texts, tell your clients that. I also leverage my voicemail system and tell clients often- I monitor the voicemail box closely and will call you back, often within 15 minutes.

However, this is a sign that you need to either restructure your work flow or hire. If you can't hire and your phone is going crazy all the time, you're not charging enough- that is not a sustainable business model.

 

[Archon Prime]

I'm not that busy. But I'll allow my clients to text/call/email me. If i'm on-site, I'll answer my phone unless I'm busy with the client. You're going to want to get something a little more structured from the sounds of it. Get a VOIP system and have those calls go to a ticketing system, or have someone answer your calls for you, enter that info into a ticketing system for you, etc.

 

[marley1]

Best thing I got was a receptionist. If you can't afford loook at some of the call answering services or outside this.

Do not give out cell phone for text.

 

[Krynn72]

As a part time tech ( full time job gets in the way) I end up having most calls go to voicemail since I can't answer during the day unless I'm on break. I try to return calls as soon as I'm on break too, but one client has my cell number because a personal acquaintance referred them to me and only knew me by that number. So now whenever this customer calls I get two calls and two voicemails within a couple minutes

 

[Diggs]

Do not give out cell phone for text.

I'm not sure what you are afraid of? I'd much rather answer a few lines of text than the waste of time to retrieve, listen to, sort and return voice messages when I am working in the field. So much faster, cleaner to do and there is a record of everything. (I get a transcribed record of every voice message also (read, sort, file, etc.) because I use GV but most don't have that option.)

 

[GTP]

I have no issue giving out my private mobile number. I've had this number since 1995.
It's on my business cards, website, signage etc. It's even on stickers that I attach to the side or bottom of computers for customers convenience.
I get all sorts of crazy people calling but that just keeps it interesting!
My "Block Number" list is a mile long! Lol

 

[callthatgirl]

I just breezed your post because it gave me shivers to read lol

Here is what I do...

Get an answering service to forward you the messages via email. My phone on my website goes to the service. My cell phone is in my signature and all clients know to expect a call from a 952 number.
Have a FIRM not texting rule. I have it and only on occasion will I let a client text. When I get a text, I text back saying "I don't text please email me" and that stops texting. I hate texting!
Use an online scheduler program like mine. It works great and I have many canned message that send folks to find my availability.

I pay $300 a year for the scheduler and about $200 a month for the answering service. Both helped me figure out a lot of the issues you are having. Get a 2nd phone if you need to get rid of all the callers on your cell phone. It's not worth that and sitting in the car triaging all the communications.