Brent Pohlman
I am trying a new approach to my writing with this article. Too many times, I often give advice based on experiences that I have been a part of and witnessed. I am not saying this is a good approach, but I do not want to turn into that professor I had in college who only talked about his experiences from the 1960’s. I went to college in the 1980’s. My point here is that our stories can become very stale and boring if all we do is talk about our past experiences.
Things are changing so fast these days and some methods that worked a few years ago, do not work as well today.
Here are some thoughts I have on this topic of serving clients and I hope some of you will share your responses.
Voice-mail – – I really see voice mail going away in the future. Listening to a recorded voice is time consuming and not as productive as sending someone an email message or text message. Voice-mail requires effective communication by both parties in leaving clear, concise messages with appropriate contact information and being able to access voice-mail in a timely fashion and responding to it. (Looking for better alternatives when serving clients)
Front Desk – These positions will be more critical going forward. This person is the first face someone comes in contact with your compay. With everything going online, it is critical that this person has the highest professionalism and sets the right tone from the start on the phone and in person.
Email – Need to make email writing more of a priority. Maybe it should be part of an English class in how to communicate professionally online. I have seen so many poorly written emails in the past two years from co-workers and clients. Maintaining professionalism is the key and asking more direct questions needs to occur to make sure messages are being interpreted corrctly.
Video Conferencing – Do you see more video conferencing occuring in your company? Should every company have a “Go To Meeting” membership? Do people know how to effectively lead meetings online? Should this be a class?
Text Messages – When is it appropriate to text a client? Should you start or are you opening yourself to always being available from a service standpoint? Internally, it can really improve communications.
Website– How can we make our websites cleaner and more simple? What do people want to see on a website? (Company Name, Address, Phone, Company Representatives, Availability)
Podcasting – Are companies seeing value in this area? I think about it from time to time, but I don’t see the return. If someone can show me some return I would be more interested
What tools or processes are you looking into in 2015 to better serve clients? I have listed some processes above that I am working with or considering, but I really think it takes the right approach to make these processes effective. If you have some ideas on anything listed above or other ways for serving clients, I am all ears.
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