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Phone Calls 5

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SteelPE

SteelPE

Structural
Mar 9, 2006
2,743
I have a real hard time getting clients to pick up or return phone calls. I receive project from them saying that they would like me to look at project “A”. I look at the project and then usually have questions. When I try to contact them by phone they never pick up. They sometimes return emails, but writing a long winded email for 15 min on something that can be solved with a 2 min phone conversation is tiresome. It is getting to the point where I am putting way more effort into projects than what should be.

How do you get your clients to pick up/return your phone calls?
 
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Billable hours - The more time it takes for you to communicate, the more it will cost them. Let them know that a 2 minute call won't cost them, but writing a email for 15 minutes will be included in your billable hours. As the old saying goes, "Money talks..."
 
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Wish it was that simple.... but it's not. Most of my projects are fixed fee.
 
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OK, so how about playing with schedule?

"Hi, this is Steel PE with some questions on project XXX I'm doing for you. Please call me at your earliest convenience at 8675309. Until I can get answers the project is on hold - day for day slip. Again, the number is 8675309."

You could email & text them equivalent message too. Text might be good if they're the kind of people who are in meetings all the time so can't answer the phone, but can check texts. Not sure if that applies inyour industry as much as here though.

Posting guidelines faq731-376 (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​
 
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It's a lot harder to ignore a phone call after you've shaken someone's hand. Sure it still happens, but at least they will feel guilty about it.

I have to admit, messages with "I have a question, call me" don't go to the top of my list. "I have a question about A, B, and C" gives me 5 minutes to review, and call back feeling reasonably prepared. Or have Frank call you back because I'm not at all familiar with those topics, Frank worked on them. Nobody likes fumbling for an answer while someone waits on the other end of the line.
 
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I think documentation of your efforts is the key.

I always make a phone call first and then follow up with an email. If they answer the phone and we discuss XYZ, I will send a short follow up email to create a paper trail of what was discussed. If they don't answer the phone, I will send an email just to let them know that I left a voicemail and I need to contact them regarding their project. Sometimes they are away from their office phone but are able to receive emails on their cell phone.

In the end, it comes down to the fact that more often than not, it seems that we have to put on our "lawyer hats" to cover ourselves and document everything in writing (i.e. emails). So if you ever get the phone call from the client saying " !@%^!#$.....Where are my drawings, specs, etc ?!? "...you can simply demonstrate to them that you made multiple efforts to contact them with no result.

If that fails, you may want to consider pruning them from your list of clients. If they don't even respond before the project starts, how do you think they will respond during or after the project when you try to get paid.

 
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call them repeatedly and definitely leave a very detailed message. nobody wants to return a call if they have no idea why you called. if the answer is apparent, they may email you back the answer

ask them for their cell phone number, most of us use cell phones these days and its hard to ignore them.

unless they have your number stored in their cell phone, texting might be ineffective unless you sign your text with your name. personally, I do not reply to texts (or phone calls) if I don't know who is texting me.
 
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If they don't answer the phone or respond to voicemail you could write an email suggesting that they schedule a call with you to discuss topics A, B, and C when they are available. It seems like sometimes you need to get people to block out time on their calendar to actually get ahold of them. This also puts the ball in their court. Hopefully you have a statement in your proposal that "timely response to questions or requests for information from customer is assumed" so that any schedule slippage could be backed up.
 
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I push the schedule button. They don't care about me and my concerns; they care about themselves and their concerns. hmmm... kinda like me (when I am very busy) I guess.
 
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8675309 -- that would only really work if SteelPE's name were Jenny ;-)

TTFN
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You may have to recognize that for certain individuals, you may not be able to use the phone as the priamry communication tool. A lot of the youngsters out there would rather text than talk - my daughter has probably used less than 10 minutes of voice calling on her phone in the last year. I've worked with colleagues with speech impediments that would rather use email. Some folks like the papertrail an email gives.
 
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Most of my customers have learned not to call me. I'm almost always either in the car and unable to write anything down, or in a noisy plant where I can't hear anything, or in a face-to-face meeting which it's rather rude to interrupt with a phone call. I'll take email every time.
 
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I have all the age ranges texting me now. The really busy ones do the most texting, and they are older. Just leave a voicemail saying we need to speak on the phone, I can't do anything until we talk about X, Y, and Z. I have been using emails mostly as it helps with who said what, when, about whatever.

B+W Engineering and Design | Los Angeles Civil Engineer and Structural Engineer
 
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The problem that I have is that nothing is returned. I have even asked them what time is best to call them and that I will accommodate their schedule... they won't give me a straight answer. I ended up sending a little email to the client stating that if they wanted my help they were going to need to do a better job of returning my calls and that prompt returns help everyone. They seem to be doing a little better after the email but not the greatest.

I have other clients who are difficult to get on the phone or return emails..... but with these clients I know if I call them at 7:30 am or after 5:00 pm I have a 50/50 chance of getting them on the phone.... or a 80% chance of a quick return of my call.
 
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If it is a big deal, drive to their office and stand in front of them. In order of getting things to move, email first, phone second, face to face last.
 
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Um, if the OP doesn't have time to write the client an email how does face to face visit improve matters?

Posting guidelines faq731-376 (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​
 
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Go up their chain of command until you get the results you want. After all, it is common courtesy to acknowledge someone is trying to communicate with you.

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC
 
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We use a spreadsheet to track our questions and the client's response, and we put a "Response needed by" date next to each one. If they don't fill in the response on time, the schedule gets bumped. You can use a shared document through Google, or just ask that they email back your responses. Each week we add more questions and send an updated spreadsheet. If they never respond, then you have ground to stand on when they ask "Why didn't you finish by the due date?".

We take the time to explain how the spreadsheet tracking system works up front, and we typically get a positive response. When we get angry faces and grimaces, we usually know it may not be a client we want to be working with anyways...

We also send the client a monthly progress update with the current status of the schedule, what has changed in scope, and where we are at on budget. These monthly updates are again a way to document progress, and it also serves to prevent surprises when they learn of changes to the scope/schedule/fee. I attached a template example if you want to look at it. Even if they don't answer the phone, these progress updates are legal documentation of your efforts to keep the project moving. A documented list of times that you left a voicemail doesn't hold up as much in negotiations as a list of letters sent to the client. Good clients will find these progress updates helpful, but bad clients will find this annoying because they won't be able to screw you over like they have previous engineers.

I hope this is useful~
 
 http://files.engineering.com/getfile.aspx?folder=1bae97cf-f8d6-4e00-8f03-2cac974282c3&file=Project_Progress_Update_Example_1.pdf
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You've got to document everything, all missed calls, all communication, what was said, how long etc. etc. etc.

Set up a spreadsheet with all appropriate fields.
 
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