Being Available During Office Hours

This article has been translated into Spanish by Diana at Artegami.

Image from iStockPhoto

One way to forge great relationships with your clients is to get in the habit of keeping your phone with you at all times and checking your emails as often as possible. Clients working office hours expect to be able to get a hold of you and will want a prompt response. One of the by-products of good relationships with clients is that they rely on you. Unfortunately that means that if you don’t get back to them promptly that relationship could be jeopardized.

Sleeping in until midday or catching that afternoon movie can become complicated if your aim is to keep similar hours as your clients. Really the only reason not to be available as far as a client is concerned is if you’re in a meeting. Part of the fun of being a freelancer is having flexibility and being your own boss, so you need to balance that with keeping your clients happy.

From experience I decided that if I missed a call for whatever reason I should call the client right back, even if it is just to give them a time I’d be able to talk in depth. It’s good manners and my clients knew I was eager to take their call. The last thing you want is for your client to feel they need to track you down or harass you in order to get in touch.

You need to be organized if you’re going to be off work for whatever reason. Some freelancers still answer their phone while they’re on holiday but sometimes that’s just not possible (you might be overseas, at a workshop or just need a break). If you’re going away and won’t be contactable, try the following:

• Contact your clients well in advance and let them know you won’t be available. Ask them if there’s any work they need to have completed before you leave,

• Put an auto-responder on your email, and
• Change your answering message on your cellphone and landline.

I would not recommend suggesting someone else to complete their work while you’re away. In reality anyone who you’re confident will not make a play for your clients must be a friend, and if anything goes wrong you’ll be stuck in the middle between a friend and a client. I can tell you from (oh so bad) experience, that is not somewhere anyone wants to be. It is far safer to tell your client about your plans well in advance, and make sure their work is completed before you leave.

Make it easy for new or old clients to get in touch and you’ll forge strong relationships that will serve you well in your freelancing career.