Questions??????????????

[Elrod]

Don't Ya love those clients who have tax questions at the Supermarket....Hardware....Mall...On the street.

We were camping , .Miles from home...while standing at our picnic table,... Up walks a client....Hey!..How much is health

Care gonna cost me this year?...WELL.....I don't know right now....Hopfully not too much.

After a chat and a soda....off he went......

I'll open an office in my tent....Maybe pay for vacation???? Gotta Love Em.

[mcb39]

Or the ones who send a question by e-mail when they could just as easily pick up the phone. Good thing that I have texting blocked on my cell phone or some of them would surely text a question.

[JohnH]

Wow, I'm just the opposite. I wish all my clIents would email their questions instead of calling. I try everything I can do to get them migrated over to email. I can respond at my leisure and the written communication forces them to be more precise. I'll rey to an email within an hour or less, whereas I may not return a phone call until the end of the day. And I make sure all my clients know this. Even if the email response is simply "I need to think about this (or look something up)," they are usually very patient in waiting for an answer. Also, I text with several of my younger clients . That's simply the mode of communication for this next generation - get on board or get left behind.

As for the people who walk up and ask questions, I know this bothers many of you. But I take it as a compliment, plus I have gained new business from having off the cuff conversations with clients while someone else was present. And if the question is too difficult or involved, it's easy enough to tell them we need to discuss it later and in more detail.

Most situations like this revolve around your taking control of the conversation IMO.

[Randall]

I agree on preferring email.

[mcb39]

I guess I didn't make myself clear. I am referring to the questions that don't make any sense or leave out pertinent facts so I have to end up calling them to find out what they mean. I do a LOT of correspondence by e-mail, but primarily with out of town or out of state clients. I do prefer the phone when I have to ask them questions and end up with the exchange of five or six e-mails before getting to the point.

Perhaps some of you have your clients trained better than I do.

Also, I agree with John when it comes to people coming up and asking questions. It IS all in controlling the conversation.

[kcjenkins]

I agree 100% with John. I actually consider it a bit of a compliment that my clients are comfortable with talking to me but I do often give them a very gentle brush off if the question is complicated, telling them to let me get back to them.

as for email, it;s so much easier to control the amount of time with email.

[Terry O]

I agree with email - - but for another reason. You have a copy of what you actually said - - not what they wanted to hear! And, if you are lucky enough, you can also verify that they opened the email.

Just sayin - - - - -

[Randall]

Speaking of email and records. When you have an email exchange, do you wait until you think the thread is completed and copy to client file? I try to do this, but either I think the thread is going to continue and forget to copy or I copy thinking the thread is finished and then it continues and I forget to add the additional emails to the file.

[JohnH]

If you set up a "Waiting For" email folder you can better manage that process. Rotate your reply into that folder as soon as you respond to the client (assuming you are waiting for a reply from them) and simultaneously delete their last email from your inbox. This action will also remind you to delete previous emails in the "Waiting For" folder related to the same thread as you move the "sent" email into "Waiting For".

Then, when you are satisfied the issue is settled, you copy the final email from your "Inbox" to the client file and simultaneously delete the last email you sent to the client from the "Waiting For" folder. Not a perfect system, , but it works pretty well for me.

[Margaret CPA in OH]

Thanks for this suggestion, JohnH. I use Eudora, an email client, to download all emails and do have a handful of specific client folders. For most, however, I print to pdf and save in the client folder in my master client file. The pdf doesn't take much space but it does get unwieldy with continuing threads. I will set up this Waiting For folder today. I like it!

[Jack from Ohio]

Thanks for this suggestion, JohnH. I use Eudora, an email client, to download all emails and do have a handful of specific client folders. For most, however, I print to pdf and save in the client folder in my master client file. The pdf doesn't take much space but it does get unwieldy with continuing threads. I will set up this Waiting For folder today. I like it!

Consider saving all as pdf and adding the date received to the filename. Use Lastname_Firstname_01-01-12 as the filename format. The pdf files will take up very little space, and then no worries about not keeping the one you really need later.

This works for me.

[Margaret CPA in OH]

The titling you suggest is exactly what I have been doing and it uses little space. However, I cannot always recall what was documented on which date so like the idea of keeping the whole exchange in one or maybe two. The ease of rereading a thread from one longer saved email appeals to me. At least it's worth a try for a couple of those clients that tend to drag out exchanges over several weeks or even months.

Isn't it wonderful how we can keep learning neat things for organization and just business tips from each other, not just tax stuff? This is the greatest resource ever for me.

[JohnH]

Margaret: The best tips I've ever seen for managing email are found in "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. His whole approach is about getting all these inputs out of our head and into a trusted system which will bring them back up at the appropriate, actionable time. His ideas about keeping an empty "Inbox" are great - the "Waiting For" concept extends not only to the email inbox but also across the board to all inputs we have to deal with every day. His book is worth reading, and he has a pretty good web site as well.

[Randall]

Good suggestions. Thanks.

[Margaret CPA in OH]

Thanks, JohnH. On order now! As I ease into retirement, it's about time I got some organization in my life. Hmmm, might help delay retirement, now that I think of it.