| One thing that I learnt very
quickly in this business is that clients love to call at all
hours. They think that just because you work from home that
you are available at any time, which as we know, isn't the
case.
I would always emphasise my hours of operation to my clients
in an effort to remind them that I am running a business and
not a charity. My hours were typical business times. Monday
to Friday 8-5pm. Little did they know that I would generally
work most nights til 2 or 3am, but that's irrelevant. If you
work from home, chances are you have other people in the house,
and receiving phone calls at all hours can be very intrusive,
not to mention rude!
I recall having one client who would routinely call my phone
dozens of times a day, with all sorts of stupid questions.
In the end I simply stopped answering her calls. Only because
it was seriously interferring with my work. I was spending
all day on the phone and getting nothing done!
After a few months of annoying phone calls at all hours I
decided enough was enough. It was time to shift my business
number away from my own personal mobile phone and get myself
a dedicated phone that I could "switch off" at the
end of business day.
This then meant that I could enjoy peace of mind, and be able
to get on with what I needed to do, and not have to assist
someone over the phone on why they couldn't log into their
email because they had caps lock on.
As you know, having a dedicated mobile phone is a business
expense, so not only would I spend less of my day on the phone
offering technical support but I would also be saving a fortune
on calls as well.
This may seem like an obvious point, but I certainly
never really gave it much thought, until it became a problem.
And what really annoyed me was that because I hadn't considered
this earlier, that once I had received my new phone, I had
to have all my business cards reprinted with my new number
on them - Aaaaghhh!
Take my advice, get yourself a dedicated mobile phone, that
you use specifically for business purposes. Otherwise, prepare
yourself for ongoing calls at all hours! Don't say I didn't
warn you!
Best of luck to you.
John
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