Turning the phone off??

DunRite

New member
Id like to hear from some of you guys on how accessible you are to your clients.

For a long time i used to NOT take calls or respond to texts/emails from Clients after 6PM Mon-Through Sat and Sunday nothing at all

I actually had a seperate phone i used and my main business line would be shut down after those hours with a VM setup

I thought i was maybe losing some business doing this but wasn't really sure so i reverted back to being accessible almost anytime- answering the phone at night, responding to texts on Sundays, etc

Im starting to feel overwhelmed again and am thinking about restricting my access to clients again. I get calls/texts/emails almost all hours now.

Any thoughts from you guys?
 
I'm accessible 24/7...After hours I take calls when and if I feel like taking them....or I will let go to voice mail or even forward to my office phone. Calls during the day are answered by my office manager. Text messages from customers I usually answer quickly...

When i get that overwhelming feeling I walk away from the phone for a bit.
 
Before pw-ing I had a remodeling business it was different. Most customers I wouldn't give my cell number to. To much of a pita with customers freaking out over a faucet. Now just starting out cell is my business number. Without many friends and family as a referral base every call is needed. Finding that missed calls most likely were lost opportunity. Very few missed calls have left a voice message.
 
I answer my phone 24/7. For the simple fact that when the customer has called 4 other power washing services at 11:00 at night and you're the only one that answers the phone and they need it done now. It's name your price more less. Sometimes it pays big $$$ to answer your phone even at 1 AM.
 
People tell us all the time I can't believe you answered your phone at 6:00am or 10pm. It only goes to voicemail if we are already on the phone. Our business has almost doubled in the last 2 years because we answer virtually every call and do most quotes within a couple hours. We do many quotes while they are on the phone. We will book jobs before some of our competitors return the customers phone calls. If possible always always always answer your phone
 
People tell us all the time I can't believe you answered your phone at 6:00am or 10pm. It only goes to voicemail if we are already on the phone. Our business has almost doubled in the last 2 years because we answer virtually every call and do most quotes within a couple hours. We do many quotes while they are on the phone. We will book jobs before some of our competitors return the customers phone calls. If possible always always always answer your phone
Shhh. I found out in Florida, if you don't answer the phone, then 90% of the time you will lose the job. People just don't leave messages. they just go down the list until someone answers. They also want it done yesterday.
 
Not a single one of my clients has my cell phone. All my numbers are ported into a VOIP phone system. After business hours they get the recorded message answering machine. I would go insane if all my clients had my cell. Call the office if you need to talk to me. Honestly I remember thinking when I started my VOIP system that I may lose clients because of this. But I don't feel I have and realistically the freedom and time away from the business in the off hours is well worth it. I highly suggest you move into Vocalocity and port your number. The only issue is no more text messages from clients. But they can email or call anytime during business hours.
 
Not a single one of my clients has my cell phone. All my numbers are ported into a VOIP phone system. After business hours they get the recorded message answering machine. I would go insane if all my clients had my cell. Call the office if you need to talk to me. Honestly I remember thinking when I started my VOIP system that I may lose clients because of this. But I don't feel I have and realistically the freedom and time away from the business in the off hours is well worth it. I highly suggest you move into Vocalocity and port your number. The only issue is no more text messages from clients. But they can email or call anytime during business hours.

Ty- We are getting to that point again i think

The issue is that many of our services are 3-5 day jobs some even longer

Its the questions from current clients on current jobs- Not new job inquiries

I don't think i would miss many new job opps coming in after hours but not really sure as i never really tracked it

I hear what everyone's saying as i always prided myself on being customer/client friendly- but sometimes it just gets too much

I did do this a few years back and am seriously considering doing it again
 
I believe that if you missed a call you lost the business, but I try and call the number back and explain who we are and we just missed your call. It normally gets us to the next step for hire.


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Shhh. I found out in Florida, if you don't answer the phone, then 90% of the time you will lose the job. People just don't leave messages. they just go down the list until someone answers. They also want it done yesterday.

In my area of FL this is dead on too, and they want it done at the price their neighbor charges with an electric husky pw. Then they want their $120k benz detailed for $10.
 
Ty- We are getting to that point again i think

The issue is that many of our services are 3-5 day jobs some even longer

Its the questions from current clients on current jobs- Not new job inquiries

I don't think i would miss many new job opps coming in after hours but not really sure as i never really tracked it

I hear what everyone's saying as i always prided myself on being customer/client friendly- but sometimes it just gets too much

I did do this a few years back and am seriously considering doing it again


I think a lot of the replies in this thread are focusing on the nature of missing business by not answering the phone. But that is not the problem I feel Mike is trying to express here. Mike agreed that no one is calling after business hours for new business for the most part. And I agree with that statement for the most part. I think this is a question of how hard do you want to work to make your money. Point being, that when I was first starting I answered all my calls myself and would pick up the phone anytime and worked 7 days a week. Then after time that will start wearing you down and burn you out quickly. There comes a point in business where it becomes pick and choose your clients/battles. At my stage of my career we are always busy. Of course I want more work! Of course I want to grow! But we are always making money and have enough consistent business that if a client will only talk to me outside of normal business hours then I don't want that client. Period.

I feel that rules, regulations and procedures should be put in place in any business to make it fair on both the company and the client. If my client's do not want to follow my process or procedure then I don't want them as clients. Its not like the company is asking for a lot here. The company is simply saying that the employees of the company have lives and are real people. We need to have time with the family and have days off and have regular business hours like everyone else. Almost everyone can understand that. For the people that can't, I will let my competition have those clients ALL DAY LONG! I don't want clients that can't respect the structure of business or my company policies.

Mike, I have never told you a piece of advice that I don't stand behind. Port your number in, set your business hours, and have your answering machine ready outside of business hours. Clients that don't want to talk on the phone can send me an email. Or be prepared to deal with this until you retire. I know there are lots of guys that give their clients their phone number and I am in NO WAY knocking that business strategy. To each their own. I have been there and done that. I don't want texts from my clients and I don't want to talk to my clients after 5pm. I want to play w my daughter! haha

I believe in structuring your business during business hours.
 
I think a lot of the replies in this thread are focusing on the nature of missing business by not answering the phone. But that is not the problem I feel Mike is trying to express here. Mike agreed that no one is calling after business hours for new business for the most part. And I agree with that statement for the most part. I think this is a question of how hard do you want to work to make your money. Point being, that when I was first starting I answered all my calls myself and would pick up the phone anytime and worked 7 days a week. Then after time that will start wearing you down and burn you out quickly. There comes a point in business where it becomes pick and choose your clients/battles. At my stage of my career we are always busy. Of course I want more work! Of course I want to grow! But we are always making money and have enough consistent business that if a client will only talk to me outside of normal business hours then I don't want that client. Period.

I feel that rules, regulations and procedures should be put in place in any business to make it fair on both the company and the client. If my client's do not want to follow my process or procedure then I don't want them as clients. Its not like the company is asking for a lot here. The company is simply saying that the employees of the company have lives and are real people. We need to have time with the family and have days off and have regular business hours like everyone else. Almost everyone can understand that. For the people that can't, I will let my competition have those clients ALL DAY LONG! I don't want clients that can't respect the structure of business or my company policies.

Mike, I have never told you a piece of advice that I don't stand behind. Port your number in, set your business hours, and have your answering machine ready outside of business hours. Clients that don't want to talk on the phone can send me an email. Or be prepared to deal with this until you retire. I know there are lots of guys that give their clients their phone number and I am in NO WAY knocking that business strategy. To each their own. I have been there and done that. I don't want texts from my clients and I don't want to talk to my clients after 5pm. I want to play w my daughter! haha

I believe in structuring your business during business hours.

That is awesome that you u can do what you do and it does not hurt you bottom line, ( well it does but i get it ).
 
I answer my phone whenever I hear it ring. My customer profile is a little different than most, however. I also have every single customer in my contacts, so I know who is going to be calling.
 
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