Ways for those working from home to communicate with their customers

For those of you who are currently working from home (whether willingly or unwillingly), you cannot allow your environment to have an impact on your business and, more importantly, your customer relationships. Customers don't care where you are. They just want you to get the job done and handle it well.

By the same token, you can't let your interactions with customers have a trickle-down effect in your home life. There should be a clear separation between work and home when working with remote clients.

Below are some tips for web designers and other freelancers trying to get a better handle on client management and relationships while working from home.

1. Boost Your Internet Speeds

When you work from an office, you have the luxury of milking your employer or workspace's Internet as much as possible. But at home? You're not too excited about paying for super high-speed Internet when it comes with a massive monthly cost And only eight hours a day are required.

The faster your internet, the quicker you can get the job done. Plus, healthy Internet speeds are essential for streaming – I'm not talking about streaming a funny YouTube video. I'm talking about Zoom meetings with your clients (more on that below).

Please note that Internet costs can be deducted from your taxes. Specifically, you can write down the amount you use for work each day. So, some of that money will be back in your pocket at tax time.

2. Allocate Specific Hours to Customer Contact

It's really important to avoid interruptions while working. And customers present a huge opportunity for interruption and distraction if you let them.

3. Authorizing Customers to Schedule Meetings

Even if it's just you doing the show, you want to give the impression that everything is covered and that you had a team behind you. This is where your software selection and automation system comes into play.

For starters, your website should have a meeting scheduling link to enable potential customers to schedule meetings with you. This includes coordinating timelines, arranging meeting details, gathering relevant details, etc. It saves time.

4. Use a Client-Friendly Video Conferencing Tool

When working from home, it's important to have face-to-face meetings with clients. It's not like every call requires a face-to-face meeting, but it's nice to do it once in a while, especially if you're going to be sharing your screen anyway (like browsing a website).

5. Choose the Right Channel to Communicate

There are many different ways to communicate with customers these days. E-mail. A phone call. Text. Loose message. Zoom in on the video. Asana message broadcasts. Google Doc comments.

But you have to be careful about this. There's a time and a place to use each of these channels, so make sure you do it right. If you use them correctly, your customers will be less likely to misuse or misuse these channels. You know how it goes. First, they email you with a question. Then call panic when they don't hear it again after hours. And then, as a last resort, bombard you with texts until they hear you.