Do you avoid talking to writing clients on the phone?

As a freelancer in the 21st century, we are used to being able to communicate instantly and anonymously. Heck, some of us talk more to our family members digitally than voice to voice or face to face. It’s easy to get to a point in your life where you wish you could deal with everyone via text/IM/email. But if you’re avoiding the phone in your freelance writing career, it could be career limiting.

Today’s post was inspired by a thread on a writer’s forum where writers were discussing refusing to talk to clients on the phone by making up excuses about preferring email communication. Not that long ago, I avoided the phone at almost all costs. I really wanted to institute a zero phone call policy. I’ve changed my mind and I think it has helped me grow my writing business.

Communicating with Clients and Prospects

Yes, email is preferable for most communications. It gives you a paper trail and it lets you answer at your leisure. You can answer it at any hour of the day (and from anywhere) and you can carefully formulate your answers and edit them before you hit the ‘send’ button. And there’s always instant messaging as well. But there are times when a phone call can help you:

• Demonstrate professionalism – Some clients want to have a conversation to help them determine if you’re right for their project.
• Eliminate confusion -  A quick call can eliminate confusion on a project and save time, frustration, and your reputation.
• Upsell -  As a business owner, talking to clients can help you share information about other services you can offer.

When I started freelance writing I had a toddler in the house with me all day and I was on a dial-up internet connection so couldn’t do a phone call without disconnecting the internet. I also had to have a babysitter. This make me put myself into a bit of a bubble. I started to find the idea of client phone calls such an ordeal to organize that I avoided them wherever possible.

Nowadays, I see the potential for them. Just last month I took a phone call that turned a one-off order for web content into an ongoing blogging and article marketing gig. That client was also impressed enough with our discussions that he referred a potential client to me.

Don’t be Too Available

I am careful about making myself too available by phone. For one thing, I have clients all over the globe so don’t want my phone ringing at 4:am. For two, I don’t yet have a dedicated office line (might not ever have one) and don’t need my business calls being answered by one of my kids or coming in when I’m having the in-laws over for dinner.  I limit calls to when it’s necessary, I still do quotes by e-mail so that I have a digital paper trail, and I ask clients to schedule conference calls with me ahead of time (although tell the bigger ones that I can often be flexible, if need be). I also list consultation pricing on my client price list (per 30 minutes) so that I can reserve the right to revert to this if the phone calls are getting too frequent and /or are turning into free consultations. (I’ve made the mistake of giving away too much info in the past to a client who decided to start a business similar to mine after extracting valuable info from me.)

In my opinion and direct experience, being open to talking voice-to-voice with clients and potential clients (on occasion) can help you take your writing business to the next level.  Do you shy away from phone calls?  Do you think it’s hurting your business?