We want to serve each of our clients in a timely manner. It is not fair for us to ignore
voicemail, email or clients in the office, because someone chooses to do their
communications via one form of instant messaging or another. When those people
send an instant message we will let them know we’re happy they contacted us, but they
will need to call or email us instead. We will follow up with their voicemail or email
during our normal business hours.
Texting or using Messenger with our clients is not professional. It may be quick and
easy, but we need to pay attention to details in our communication. Emailing clients
requires us to focus on proper grammar and spelling, and will include our professional
email signature.
Texting or using Messenger doesn’t help us build solid client relationships, like having a
live conversation does. Based on our experience, speaking to someone directly is better
for our business and for the people we serve. You can learn a lot about someone in just
five minutes on the phone!
There’s so much room for miscommunication in an instant message. We’ve all been in a
situation where we got our feelings hurt or we hurt someone else’s feelings with a text
message. And more often than not, it was all a miscommunication. It can be hard to
read tone in any written communication, but this is especially true for instant messages.
Because messaging is supposed to be quick and easy, we often cut corners. Trust us
when we say cutting corners in communication is not something we want to do!
You can’t archive messages in the same way that you can archive emails.
Documentation is such an important part of running our business and the great thing
about email is that it’s so easy to archive. Instant messages on the other hand,
disappear after a while or get lost completely when you get a new phone. Without a
written record of our conversation, there is no chance to review what each party said
they would do.
We are confident that the implementation of this Policy will allow us to serve everyone
equally and in a professional manner.
