It can be very frustrating when you need to get hold of a client ASAP, but they won’t pick up the phone. Whether it’s a time-sensitive deal or a critical update, it’s essential that you get your message through to avoid lost opportunities or disaster. Fortunately, there are other communication approaches that you can use. This post takes a look at these other ways of making contact with customers, and how to use each form of communication in an urgent situation.
Voicemails
Leaving a voicemail is often the best alternative. If a customer has missed your call, they can then check this voicemail and ring you back. Try to keep voicemails under 30 seconds – introduce yourself, state the emergency and then provide a callback number.
Using services like Drop Cowboy, it’s also possible to leave ‘ringless voicemails’, which involves leaving a voice message without actually calling. This can be useful if you have already tried to ring a customer multiple times at different points of the day.
Leaving multiple voicemails in quick succession may come off unprofessional, so consider using other communication approaches if you have already left a voicemail and had no response. This could also be necessary if a customer has lost their phone.
Emails
Follow-up emails after a missed call can be a great way to get customers to respond or to simply provide any urgent information. You’re able to lay out any information in detail and provide attachments if necessary.
Just make sure that you use an attention-grabbing subject line like ‘Urgent: Quick Update on Your Project Deadline’ to make sure that they don’t just ignore it in their inbox. Frontload the email with the most important information and provide a number to ring back on if you need a response.
Text messages
When ringing a mobile number, you could also consider sending a follow-up text message. Studies show that text messages have a much greater open rate than emails, increasing the chance of your message getting read.
Of course, text messages do come with character limits, so you need to be concise with your message. Something like this should suffice: ‘Hey John, tried calling about the urgent invoice approval. Can we chat briefly? Thanks’. Make sure texts are only sent during business hours and always make sure they have provided permission to use your phone number.
There are SMS services that can automatically send a follow-up text after a missed call. However, when dealing with unique or personal issues, it may be preferable to customize your message.
Direct mail
Direct mail may be more costly and slower than other methods, but is sometimes necessary when other communication channels fall flat. If you need a response to something in a matter of hours then direct mail is obviously not going to be much use. However, if you have days to spare or simply want to be certain that information has got through, a physical letter is often necessary.
Consider adding ‘URGENT’ or ‘ATTN’ to the envelope and be prepared to pay extra for fast delivery. When it comes to payment reminders, there are important legal considerations to make, which this guide at PostGrid delves into.
Using all of these communication bases is a way to cover all bases so that you’re more likely to get your message through – as well as legally protecting yourself if they still choose to ignore you. No matter how urgent the message is, make sure that you remain professional in tone and only use contact details that they have given you consent to use.
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