The Secret Of Setting Business Boundaries While Still Being Available For Your Clients.
Availability is essential for modern businesses. Unlike a few years ago, that now means going beyond the usual 9–5. Instead, clients who are working more themselves want the reassurance of knowing they can contact you when they finish late, and still receive a reply by morning.
Unfortunately, this always-on business model doesn’t come for free. Instead, employees are pushed to their limits. That results in backlogs, high turnovers, and often, a surprising decrease in overall productivity.
These are issues that many modern business owners feel forced into for fear of damaging their business reputation otherwise. But there are ways to make yourself more available to clients without literally burning the candle at both ends. In this article, we’ll consider what they are.
1 – Open and honest communication
While clients require availability, they also understand (and likely appreciate) that your business is fuelled by humans. And, humans naturally need breaks. In the majority of cases, this will only become a problem if you promise something like 24/7 availability, and then fail to deliver it.
By instead being open and honest with your client communications, you can set a far more realistic basis for your relationship. Simply outline right away things like open hours, timelines, and so on. It also pays to set up an out-of-hours email notification with a reminder of those opening hours, and a prediction for when clients can expect a reply.
All of this means that, even if they don’t hear back from you right away, clients will know exactly what to expect. This might be a different kind of availability from an always-on model, but when done well, it should work equally well for keeping clients happy and trusting in your services.
2 – Fast-fire documents
There might be times when clients suddenly pressure you for vital documents or want a deal closed outside of operating hours. This is something that neither automation nor outsourcing can help with, but it still doesn’t mean you all need to stay stuck in the office until an unreasonable hour.
Instead, focus on creating fast-fire, easily editable documents that your team can access and send off at a moment’s notice, wherever they are. This way, even sudden pressure from a client needn’t mean more than half an hour or so of evening work for any individual team member.
Your standard business application is key to this, as it provides secure, immediate access to your full body of documents on an employee’s own devices. Equally, programs like the Apryse DOCx editor make it far easier to edit documents and templates quickly. Employees can then send those documents straight through to the client-side, without feeling like their evening’s been ruined.
3 – Tentative steps towards automation
78% of customers prefer to talk to a real human over an automated offering like a chatbot. As such, you should certainly never attempt to replace human customer service in this way. Still, using something like an automated chatbot out of hours can be useful from an availability standpoint.
This is because a chatbot can answer simple queries that might otherwise have to wait. That can keep the flow of information strong, even when your team is tucked up in bed. Chatbots can also provide clients with the opportunity to leave more detailed comments, or even to be directed to an outsourced overnight team if they still have questions.
4 – Outsourcing overnight
That leads us nicely to our next point, which is to simply outsource overnight service. Admittedly, as more and more companies turn away from outsourcing, it’s important to seek a high-quality, preferably local outsourcing service. But, there are now plenty of companies who can over quality, informed call center operatives to answer out-of-hours queries.
This allows your team to knock off on time each day, without your clients ever suffering as a result. Simply make sure, when looking into this option, that you always choose outsourcing providers who take the time to get to know your company, messaging, and services. If you’re in a specialist industry like tech or finance, it also pays to seek specialist outsourcing from individuals who will be able to answer even complex queries with ease.
Takeaway
Availability expectations have skyrocketed in recent years, but something has to give. You can’t expect your team to work all hours and still stay happily loyal. Instead, you can keep everyone a lot happier with these compromises to ensure availability without overdoing it. Your team, and probably even your clients, will surely thank you for it.