There is one app on our phones that we’re terrified to use.
It’s not a messenger app. It’s not a social media app. It’s not the camera app. It’s not a podcast app. It’s not an email app.
It’s the app with the icon that looks like a phone handset.
How is it that the very thing phones were created to do has become the feature we fear to use the most?
We’d rather message or email than call because it’s lower effort. We tell ourselves we have more time to compose our thoughts and we can do it quickly in between other things we’re doing.
So messages have become full of emojis replacing real feelings and emails are glorified SMS messages full of typos.
A phone call requires us to be in the moment. To actively listen. To sometimes say, ‘I’m not sure’, instead of being able to look up the answer before replying.
This it why it’s so important to call your clients instead of just messaging and emailing them. A call is more engaging and it shows you cared enough to put time aside to do it.
Here are my tips for calling:
- Yeah, it’s weirdly scary calling someone. Especially someone you don’t know very well. So take a moment to think about what you want to say, make notes if you need to and right them down on a piece of paper in front of you. Then make the call. The more calls you do the more second nature it will become.
- There are two times that I believe you must call your clients instead of messaging/emailing. A) When they miss a session and you don’t know why and B) when they initially enquire about your sessions because a call builds rapport like an email can’t.
- Batch your calls together. Put aside 15 minutes every day or every second day to call missing clients and new enquiries.
One last thing, if you’re worried about appearing to hassle or interrupt someone, don’t. It’s been my experience that clients are always very pleased to know I cared enough to call even if all I did was leave a voicemail.
Start using your phone as a phone when it matters. You may just find that you begin to enjoy it.
Kyle Wood created Bootcamp Ideas in 2010 when he was hunting around on the internet for workout ideas. He ran a successful bootcamp in Victoria, Australia and spends his spare time managing this site, adventuring (or lazying) with his wife and find new ways to make bootcamps even better.
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