When you’re working on projects for clients, communication is key. Unfortunately, like many web workers, I’m not that great at communication.
It’s not that I can’t communicate ideas effectively or hold up my end of a lengthy discussion, it’s just that there are so many distractions—dozens of other projects, social media accounts to maintain, etc.—that I’m constantly forgetting to respond to emails, phone calls, and text messages.
While our clients have been very forgiving of my memory lapses, it’s not good enough. That’s why I set out to master the art of project status updates and client communication.
Over the past few months, I’ve gone from a passive communicator to an active driver of conversations, making sure our clients are always informed and aware of where a project stands. In this mini-series, I’ll be sharing my three tips for achieving this “communication nirvana” so you can do the same with your clients. In this first instalment, you’ll learn why getting control of your inbox is the absolutely essential toward better communication.
Get control of your inbox
For many web entrepreneurs, getting control of your email inbox is a daunting task. Indeed, wrangling your emails into submission is not easy, but I’ve found that the most common reason I lose track of an email or forget to reply to a message is because it simply gets lost in the chaos. My rule for attaining Inbox Zero is simple: if I can’t act on an email right now, it gets archived. That goes for every kind of email: client communiqué, automated emails from web apps, emails from leads, etc. “But Chris,” I hear you say. “If I’m archiving all these messages, how will I remember to act on them later?” 
To that, I turn to my inbox secret weapon: Right Inbox. There are several competitors to Right Inbox, and each has their pros and cons, but Right Inbox is ultimately my favourite because it’s fast, light, and cheap. Essentially, Right Inbox lets you schedule email “reminders” that bring an email back into your inbox at a certain time and date.
Using reminders
Reminders effectively allow me to archive an email without losing track of it. Even in scenarios where I can’t act right now, I know I’ll need to act at a point in the future. A few scenarios where this might be the case are…
- If a client email says that they’ll send me an essential asset or content by a certain day, I set a reminder for the night before to make sure I remember to check in if that asset has not arrived yet.
- Sometimes, I schedule phone appointments with leads a week or more in advance. When I do, I make sure to set an email reminder so I not only remember the meeting but also have any relevant information for those emails at hand.
- If a client sends me revision notes for a project, but I’m busy working on other projects for the next few days, I’ll set a reminder for the night before the day I know I’ll be free. That way, I don’t forget about the changes and make sure to tackle them.
There are a million ways to use email reminders, and I highly recommend them. Personally, I often use reminders in conjunction with other methods, like calendar appointments or Asana tasks. For some, that might be overkill, but for me having that message bounce back up to the top of my inbox also brings it to the top of my attention. In the next post, I’ll walk through how I use Right Inbox and Google Calendar to stay ahead of the communication game by initiating conversations. Stay tuned for more, and leave your thoughts in the comments! photo credit: mattwi1s0n via photopin cc