Client Communication - Preferred Method

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#1
CathysTaxes  
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Out of curiosity, what is your preferred method for client communication.

So why am I posting this especially on a Sunday evening?

Well Monday. March 11, a prospective client, a sister of a new client, called my business number to make an appointment. She asked that I text her my address. The biggest mistake I could ever make? Since then, all she does is text (and we still havent met, she's got the craziest schedule and keeps canceling). I return her texts with a phone call from my business line and she returns the call with a text. Thursday night at 9:30PM she texts me (waking up my husband plus I had just gone to bed) to cancel Saturday and to say she's available after 4:30pm SUNDAY. I called her the following afternoon and left a message that I just saw her text, that I usually do not check them that it's best to call me at my business line. Well it's Sunday night, 8:30 and as I was plugging in the cell (because it's shutting down due to low battery), the phone rings and it's her.

So, What is your preferred method of client communication? I doubt it if H&R Block texts their address to clients and they have someone in the office at 8:30 on a Sunday night.
Cathy
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#2
Joan TB  
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That is EXACTLY why I am always so reluctant to contact clients via text or call from my cell phone. Sure enough, they start using it for EVERYTHING. I really hate it. Main thing I keep doing is - with everything call from my business line - repeat that I do not conduct business on my cell phone, and to use my office line.

Instead of saying you "usually do not check", I would just ignore it - or certainly don't let HER know you checked it, or else she will just keep doing it.

You sometimes have to practically get RUDE with people to get the point across, but seems like SHE is the one being rude at this point anyway. I would definitely ignore all communications until you were back in the office. If she only wants to communicate via text, sounds like you two won't be "a good fit" and you could decline to engage on that basis.

My preferred method is actually phone or in person. I HATE going back and forth via email to have a discussion about a tax point or question. You never get anywhere! I really try to keep my cell phone out of it.

Funny thing about phones - one of our office lines actually has the same last 4 digits as the County Jail. So we get a lotta calls where they have mistakenly dialed our prefix 849-xxxx instead of the prefix for the jail 864-xxxx. We have all learned to recognize those calls so we can give them the correct number... service with a smile!
 

#3
Taxaway  
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Email is the favored and from my expectations, the way clients will correspond. I have to remind myself that though my business cell is with me all the time, maybe some clients see it as an office phone so instead of getting angry at a 6:30am call, I now treat my cell as if it IS in the office. When I leave, I shut it off.

Text messages for tax purposes, I hate. A quick tax question does not mean a quick text back! And I'm not about to text my entire appt availability. My response is "email please."

(And when I respond to client emails, I can delay it so they won't expect immediate responses such as at 11:11pm, like when I'm posting on TPT!)
 

#4
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Google calendar invitation will solve all your problems CathyTax.
Tell that flaky idiot to make a firm appointment or f—k off.:)

Text can be great for short and simple items ( running late , please send 8879s, confirm receipt of important email ,etc)

But , it’s not the way I want to conduct important business where I neee a paper trail of conversation . Email is archived , searchable , and documented. My phone deletes texts after a certain date, so I can’t rely on it for long term storage of important communication
 

#5
Preppie  
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I have quite a few clients who prefer texting. My office phone is a cell phone. A separate cell phone from my personal cell phone. I bring it home, usually, but I turn the ringer off. If I feel like checking it I check it. I don't feel compelled to check it outside normal biz hours, though.
 

#6
CathysTaxes  
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Thanks everyone. I am so pleased to see everyone above has the same preferences as me. You should see the awful images of documents that they text me and I make them email or fax them. I'm not plugging my cellphone into the computer to transfer distorted images that I can't read. Everyone thinks they have the same phone as someone on NCIS!
Cathy
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#7
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A handful of my clients know that my business number is a cell and they text me. I don't mind as they don't abuse it and are aware of its limitations (e.g. they don't text answers to my tax questions and don't send source info via text -- that info is sent via portal or email).
 

#8
CathysTaxes  
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I have an app to block calls, so she is now blocked. I just downloaded a messenger app that blocks text. She's blocked. She has no choice but to use my business line. It's on her cellphone, all she has to do is click it
Last edited by CathysTaxes on 25-Mar-2019 9:35am, edited 1 time in total.
Cathy
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#9
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Without a doubt, e-mail. I do have some clients that seem to only text or do phone calls, so I favor texting. I hate phone calls unless I just cannot pin the client down, or they are not fully answering my questions. I guess not everyone will read an e-mail to ensure it actually answers everything, and is clear.

My phone system accommodates texting without giving out my cell phone number (it just appears as my business number since it is sent/received through my IP phone service)), and the texts that arrive are not intrusive. Then again, I keep my phone on silent/vibrate 100% of the time, anyway. Occasionally, there may be a "ding" on my PC when a text arrives but it is quiet.
Last edited by CornerstoneCPA on 25-Mar-2019 8:14am, edited 1 time in total.
 

#10
FLAcct  
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My preferred method of communication with my clients is email, although I am sensitive to those clients who don't use email or prefer a phone call and I will call them. I prefer email as I don't have to give any thought to: it's 6pm - are they eating dinner? or it's 10 am Sunday morning - are they in church?, etc., etc. Also, if I am requesting documents or information from a client, I hope that if they have my request in writing to refer to they are more likely to get me what I need.

I absolutely refuse to text with clients. I've had several clients who have wanted to text with me, but I'm just not going there.

I never give out my cell phone number to clients. I don't want to be receiving business calls when I am not in the office and I am in the office plenty to receive calls there. I do use my cell phone to check emails when I am not in the office, as this can be done at my convenience unlike receiving phone calls.
 

#11
ATSMAN  
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Except for Text messages, I will work with my client to whatever best works for them. Most people will agree to e-mail or portal communication. I have a few elderly clients that still prefer a phone call, personal visit to discuss tax matters.

I have actually refused to accept engagements where a potential client wants text messaging as their primary form of communication :evil:
 

#12
TaxDude  
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I prefer and use email with most communications. I typically try to talk on the phone at lease once during an engagement though. But many clients like texting for the convenience so we started texting this year. We never send sensitive info by text but we do use it for appointment reminders, let them know the taxes are ready to pick up, etc.

I text-enabled my office line. This solves everything. They already know and have our office line programmed into their phone and we didn't have to compromise our cell phone. We use a portal provided by the texting company to send a text and when the client sends a text back it goes to the portal we have loaded on all of our computers. It's great!
 

#13
ATSMAN  
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I suppose in the near future we all will be text messaging each other. No need to open your mouth and speak! Now that is human evolution :cry:
 

#14
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ATSMAN wrote:I suppose in the near future we all will be text messaging each other. No need to open your mouth and speak! Now that is human evolution :cry:


I like e-mail and texting because it can be brief and I can avoid getting dragged into long and irrelevant discussions. I like developing personal relationships with my clients, but I also do not always have time for lengthy conversations or visits and that is what electronic communications helps to prevent. Though, I have one client that sends mile long emails and texts where only a few sentences even have anything useful.

Also, some clients do not routinely check their e-mail, but they always have their phone. I know, does not make sense to me, either, given e-mail is readily accessible from phones. Or may use a text to confirm they received an e-mail, since some e-mails are filtered to spam or do not arrive at all due to filters.
 

#15
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I take absolutely NO texts or cell phone communication and I don't allow it for my employees either. I would get too many to track and I would have to spend hours replying each day.

I'm not comparing myself to a doctor, but can you text your doctor to ask about a newly sore throat? Of course not for obvious reasons.

Of course I am polite about it - but I direct all texts and calls to my office phone with a canned reply.

If your office phone is your cell phone - well, that's another story of course - I can understand why you would allow it.
 

#16
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I prefer to communicate via email. However my second favorite method is texting. I would much rather text back and forth than to have to have a conversation on the phone. If I get a text on the weekend I just text back saying I am not in the office and will check on the issue next week. I have a couple of clients that call me on the cell phone only when it is important and they already tried the office phone. I have a long commute (> 60 minutes one way) and I can talk hands free on blue tooth and take care of issues that will otherwise take up my time in the office. I am fine with that as none of these clients have abused the fact that have my cell number and I believe they appreciate that I am available. I probably get 1-2 calls to my cell a month, and maybe 5 or 6 text exchanges. I never let it turn into work for me on a weekend or vacation and always let them know I will handle it later or refer them to someone else in the office.
 

#17
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ItDepends wrote:I take absolutely NO texts or cell phone communication and I don't allow it for my employees either. I would get too many to track and I would have to spend hours replying each day.

I'm not comparing myself to a doctor, but can you text your doctor to ask about a newly sore throat? Of course not for obvious reasons.

Of course I am polite about it - but I direct all texts and calls to my office phone with a canned reply.

If your office phone is your cell phone - well, that's another story of course - I can understand why you would allow it.


I actually do text my doctor regarding issues. But he’s running his practice a little different than most.

Otherwise I agree with most everything said in this thread. I text with a handful of really good clients. Any that abuse it (hours) are told quickly that I’m not up at 6:30 if they do that again I’m going to start texting them before I go to bed at 1:00 am. Although this year I got a new phone and started with it on silent and decided it would stay that way for eternity. Marvelous.
 

#18
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ItDepends wrote:I take absolutely NO texts or cell phone communication and I don't allow it for my employees either. I would get too many to track and I would have to spend hours replying each day.


My business phone cuts off at 6pm. If anyone calls outside of work hours, it goes directly to my voicemail. But, I can call out to clients, still, or they can text. I do not mind texting as long as it is not them providing detailed information and is more of a basic inquiry or answer. The texting runs through my business's IP phone system, so no client ever receives my cell phone number. No need, because business number simultaneously rings my cell phone and I can also see texts as I please.

As someone else mentioned, keeping a phone on silent is amazing. Even better, if you use the bedtime function on the iPhone, it mutes all notifications once your "bedtime" has arrived. I find a lot of things annoying, but one of them is definitely a loud and obnoxious cell phone ringtone...can you not feel vibration or see a camera flash flashing, which is an available function?
 


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