How to Have Work/Life Balance Without Losing Clients

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Friends of a colleague went to look at a house just before the July 4 holiday. They really liked it but needed a few days to think about it. After talking it over between themselves and with their friends, they realized they were in love with the house and wanted to make an offer.

The only problem was, they couldn’t get a hold of their agent—it was a holiday weekend, after all. Eventually, the couple decided to call the listing agent directly who replied promptly via e-mail letting them know the house was already under contract.

While it may have been the time they took to make their decision, and not the agent that cost them the house, but the couple was disappointed in their agent and realized that they were the kind of buyers who need an agent who is available outside of normal business hours. They have since contacted the listing agent to find them a new house.

This story highlights the need to develop a strategy for handling business on weekends and holidays, or at early or late hours. Obviously, you can’t be on call 24/7, but you don’t want to run the risk of losing clients, either. Here are a few suggestions.

Set expectations

Here’s the thing. What is work to you, is much more for your clients. Take the example above. Buying or selling a house is a big life event. When you look at it from their perspective, you can see why clients may expect service on demand. And when they don’t get it, it’s easy for them to get upset.

But what are they really upset about? Often times, their request has more to do with their expectation than the actual result. And usually, it is okay to wait until regular business hours to get back to them. And if clients expect to hear back from you during office hours, they won’t be upset about not hearing from you before then.

It’s your job to help set those expectations. Let your clients know up front what they can and can’t realistically expect from you. Communicate the details of your schedule, including times when you will be unavailable, when they should hear back from you, and what they can do in the meantime.

For extended absences, set up out-of-the-office messages for your voicemail and e-mail. This way clients know that you are not ignoring them.

Have backups in place

Sometimes things can’t wait. In those instances, it’s a good idea to have a back-up plan in place. For instance, you could partner with a colleague to cover each other. Be sure to include that person’s name and contact information in your voicemail message or e-mail auto reply.

Another option is to hire an answering service to screen and prioritize your calls during off hours. They can take a message for low-priority calls. For high priorities, they can either transfer the call to someone you specify or contact you at a number or e-mail address reserved for high-priority messages. Just make sure you check those regularly if you go that route.

Anticipate your clients’ needs

Sometimes, you can avoid problems with a little upfront planning. In the story I mentioned above, the agent knew that the couple was considering making an offer on the house. If I were their agent, I would have made plans to ensure that they could get an offer in during that time.

If I had access to e-mail and phone messages, I would have checked them at set intervals throughout that weekend. And if I knew that I wouldn’t be able to do that, I would’ve tried to find someone who could act on my behalf.  If neither of these options were possible, at the very least I would have let the clients know that I would be unavailable during that time.

Of course, I’m not an agent myself. So I want to hear from people who are. What would you have done in this particular situation? What are your strategies for work/life balance?

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