Be Prepared for Client Phone Calls
This is a subject that comes up time and time again. Should I spend time speaking with freelance writing clients on the phone? While I have no problem with this, others would much rather use email the majority of the time. No matter where you stand on this subject, one thing is for sure: if you have a client phone call scheduled you need to be 100 percent prepared for anything that may come your way.
Here are three steps I always take to ensure that I am prepared:
1. What does the client want to talk about? The more you know before the call the easier it is to prepare yourself. If you can ask questions of the client via email, go for it. This will put you in position to better prepare yourself, and allow the call to go more smoothly.
2. Be ready to take notes. No matter if I am taking notes on my computer or on a piece of paper, I have something in front of me while the client is speaking. The longer a call goes on the more chance there is that you will forget some of the details. I make it a habit of writing down as much as I can, without losing focus of what the client is saying.
3. Have questions of your own. It is easy to get so caught up listening that you forget to ask your own questions. This has happened to me many times in the past. For this reason, I always write down any potential questions in advance. This way, I can take notes and mark them off as the conversation moves forward.
Even though this is a topic that I have discussed before, it is one that many of you continue to ask about. Hopefully this helps to clear the air, and give you a better idea of how to prepare for client phone calls.
