There are many benefits to email, one of them being that it’s asynchronous communication. You can send an email now and get your response when it’s most convenient for the receiver. You can batch process them and use email templates to make answering them faster.

The problem is, a good business needs to have direct contact with its prospects. Winning work that’s of high value means you need to create trust with your prospects. One of the best ways to create that trust is to let them see you.

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Every project gets a call

As I said last week when I talked about writing great estimates, every project you start should include a phone call to discuss the project. Even clients you’ve worked with before need that call.

Stopping at the initial call is a bad idea though — you need to keep getting on the phone with prospects during the project. No, your project management system won’t do. No, email won’t do. Neither of those options will do, especially if there is any trouble in the project.

Are you behind a few days? Get on the phone.

Is there some challenge you didn’t expect? Get on the phone.

Have you sent more than two emails about an issue? Get on the phone.

Weekly catch-up

For every project you run keep that trust high by having a weekly project meeting. Check in with the client and address any issues that have come up. Give them a verbal recap of where things are and of any concerns you may have.

Even if you sent them a Monday and Friday update email like I recommend, get on the phone in the middle of the week to touch base and make sure everything is okay.

If you want to run that awesome, successful business, you need to do things that your competitors aren’t. You need to build trust with your prospects and clients.

Don’t stick to digital communication. Get on the phone with your clients regularly and keep things running smoothly.

photo credit: mwscheung cc