General Etiquette > All In A Day's Work
Contacting a Client
mbbored:
Hey E-Hellions, I'm hoping you can offer some quality business advice.
This summer I started cleaning houses as a side job. A friend of a friend said she'd hire me to come every other week, and she contacted me about dates and times for the first 6 weeks. But, now I haven't heard from her in 4 weeks. I know she's incredibly busy: she works 10 hour days, 6 days a week and her husband travels a lot for his job. Should I contact her and ask if she wants to schedule her for any time soon?
For the record, she was pleased with what I had done the last time I was there, and she's commented on my Facebook status in the mean time.
Raintree:
I think it's perfectly fine to call up and ask if she wishes to schedule a cleaning. Something along the lines of, "I was reviewing my schedule, and I see it's been 4 weeks since the last one; do you wish to schedule a cleaning?"
It's done all the time; for example, your dentist probably sends you a reminder card. And seeing as cleaning is usually done on an ongoing basis, it's perfectly fine if you haven't heard from a client, to call once and ask if they would like to continue the service.
But if you call once and get some vague answer like, "Oh, I'll have to call you; I'm really busy in the next little while" then take the hint and don't call again. She may have decided to stop the service for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of your work (trying to save money, for example).
Raintree:
By the way, this "friend of a friend" thing is a great way to start, but in general, you want to avoid having clients as friends and having them on your Facebook, because then it gets awkward when it comes to things like follow-up calls, and finding out why they want to stop using your services.
Amava:
--- Quote from: Raintree on August 06, 2012, 03:10:16 AM ---I think it's perfectly fine to call up and ask if she wishes to schedule a cleaning. Something along the lines of, "I was reviewing my schedule, and I see it's been 4 weeks since the last one; do you wish to schedule a cleaning?"
It's done all the time; for example, your dentist probably sends you a reminder card. And seeing as cleaning is usually done on an ongoing basis, it's perfectly fine if you haven't heard from a client, to call once and ask if they would like to continue the service.
But if you call once and get some vague answer like, "Oh, I'll have to call you; I'm really busy in the next little while" then take the hint and don't call again. She may have decided to stop the service for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of your work (trying to save money, for example).
--- End quote ---
That's funny, Raintree, "Just do as the dentist would do" was exactly my first thought when I read the OP too.
And I agree. There is no harm in asking, once, professionally and politely.
I can see how it might work from the client's side:
Week one: "Oh dear, I really need to call mbbored about the cleaning".
Week two: "Oops, I forgot to call mbbored and it's already been more than a week."
Week three: "Oh no!! I forgot to call mbbored again! MUST get to that!"
Week four: "Man I totally never got round to getting back to mbbored, she will think I'm the biggest flake, now I don't dare to call her anymore!"
(Why yes, I am familiar with procrastination problems, can you tell? ;D )
Call her. :)
katycoo:
Is email an option? Were your previous applts on a consistent date/time? You could make it really easy for her and say "Based on our previous arrangements, I have checked my schedule and X week 2 and X week 4 are available. If you want these, just reply yes. If we need to compare calendars or discuss anything else, just let me know when is convenient to call.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version