How do you handle clients/customers who want to side step your office?

[CareyJo]

This is a HUGE frustration for us...

I'm sure that there are plenty of businesses out there who experience this or something similar.

You get a phone call or a text message that goes something like this... 

"Hey, my name is John and Suzie told me to call you.  She says you're the best in the business and I need you to come look at my _______ today.  It will only take a couple of minutes, I just need you to stop by."  Or...

"Hey, you've been to my house before and I have a simple fix, I don't need an appointment, just stop by."

For those of you who're not in the service industry - do you get something similar?  Does it drive you nuts???

Let me preface this with a few things before you read further.... we've been in this industry for over 25 years.  My husband is extremely well known for his skills, by many technicians and customers alike.  We've lived in the same area for all of that time as well.  This is our second HVAC company and we've been open for 7 1/2 years.  This is not a new problem.

We get that first person referrals are the best and we want to continue to receive them, but not at the expense of our personal time and space.  My husband is so well known in our area that he's changed his phone number three times because people won't stop calling him or texting him like this.  Now, we just have it permanently forwarded to the work phone and if he doesn't know you, he doesn't answer, so it goes straight to the office.  Unfortunately, that doesn't educate people that that's not the office phone number, but there's no way around it.  We've tried changing his voicemail.  We've used my voice instead.  We've said that you're calling the wrong number.  We've changed it to Spanish.  We've tried everything.  People do not respect the fact that there is a protocol and they're calling his personal phone.  We have physically spoken to hundreds of people and told them to stop giving out that number and to call our office.  No change.

We've gotten to the point that no matter who they are, how well we know or don't know them, if they text us or the work phone and don't make a phone call, they get ignored.  100%.

I used to respond to texts on the office line by saying that we don't text because it's unprofessional, you must call the office for an appointment and they continue to text anyway.  I used to get messages on IM through FB asking questions, wanting service, demanding help on my personal account.  I would answer every single one with you must call the office for an appointment.  I answered all of the ones on the business page with the same thing.  No one ever calls.  So I turned it off.  Now, if I get a personal one, I don't even open it or respond.

I get that in today's day and age, a lot of things are digital and people don't want to talk anymore.  But that's not how we run our business and we refuse to allow the masses to dictate that.  And this is genuinely not about being digital.  It's about thinking that they know the owner or "the guy" and therefore deserve gold standard service with complete exception and don't have to go through the office like everyone else.

I don't have a problem with giving gold standard service.  I don't think of a client who pays us $100 as being less important than a client who pays $ 10,000.  But I do think that what they're doing is uncouth and disrespectful and as polite as I've been about it, I'm ready to find a new response that stops people dead in their tracks and wakes them up!  I need something creative to say to these people when they do finally call the office and complain that they didn't get an answer on his phone or to a text message.

How do you/your business handle these issues?  Looking for suggestions!!

[bonny]

A more proactive approach would be best. I would let those folks know you are happy to oblige their request to "stop by", but given the randomness of when we are available, we can't guarantee when that will be.  Please know that unscheduled stops are billed at double the hourly rate in one hour increments and I'll need to take your payment information in advance so the bill is ready when we "stop by".  People usually bend over backward to not pay anything extra.  

Regarding the phone, I have a couple of suggestions.  You should have a business phone and a personal phone.  If they are the same number, you really need separate ones.  Set up office hours.  Boundaries.  Only answer the office phone during office hours.  The rest goes to messages.  If you need a way to handle emergencies or what folks think are urgencies, hire an answering service for after hour calls.  Nothing slows folks roll like an answering service. 

And about the text messages: don't respond.  People have no idea if you are or aren't getting their messages so treat them like you aren't. They will learn they have to call the business number for service.  

[CareyJo]

I like the idea of charging for the "stop by" that way but we can't realistically make it work.  What clients don't understand is that a full schedule means a full schedule.  Those people waited patiently for their appointment and we're not going to bump them because someone wants us to "stop by" without an appointment.  Good idea on the charge and it would get rid of that problem because they will stop calling us or expecting service.

We've had two phones since day one.  We opened a business line before we got our first customer.  The problem is that Suzie knows us from church but even though we've given her a handful of business cards and she's seen our work shirts, she can never remember our name, so she tells John to "call this guy" and gives him our home number or our personal numbers from the church directory.

Or... John has been a friend of Jay's for a long time and John just happened to be at Jay's most recent party that Rich attended.  They talked about cars and the pile of stuff in the backyard and oh btw I do HVAC but if you want to look at my car, here's my number.  Two months goes by and John is calling Rich's personal phone for service, even after he was given a business card and then he passes that wrong number on to 20 other people....

These are the kinds of issues we deal with.  EVERYONE thinks they are our personal friends and we've known them forever and that they should receive preferential treatment as such.  We just don't know how to make it stop.  That's why we forwarded his phone to me.  We have always only answered during business hours, unless we're in a cold spell where it's -20 and 10 pm.  Our voicemail states that if you don't leave a voicemail for a no heat emergency and request a same day call back, you won't get one.  I've discovered that more than half of the people who call don't actually listen to the whole message and then call two more times to hear it all and complain that we didn't call back immediately.  We don't get enough calls in a single day to need a service to answer the phone, it would cost too much and I don't respond to texts at all.  I delete them.  I figure they'll figure out that it was ignored and eventually call.  My biggest issue is getting people to stop passing around the wrong number and calling the wrong number.

[VanKalkerFarms]

most services like Fb allow you to setup auto responses, that is what ours does for our bakeries saying for ordering or availability you must call as the person answering Fb does not know the live inventory at all the locations.

I'm not sure I have an answer as in the retail part of our garden center there isn't any texting as it is a "landline", but on the wholesale end I would say 80% of our ordering and orders are done thru texts, with some of the orders over 50 grand.  It is just the fast and simple way to get the order and have a non-ephemeral way to trace the order so there is no well I said 50 and you sent 500 and there not being a recording of the phone conversation.  I don't have to stop what I am doing and set down what I am carrying or shut of the machine I'm on so I can talk.  Now if that isn't what you want that is 100% your call and you simply don't personally respond to texts or Fb beyond the autoreply of call blah blah blah as we don't book or troubleshoot over text.  I'm sure there will be a percentage that won't but that isn't the customer you are looking to have.

I would look into services for texting that can handle auto replies.

And definitely look into phone services that allow you to have 2 lines on your phone so your personal cell never is used even if you are calling from your personal cell. I know there is a way with Comcast for example to use your business line on your personal cell. I don't have any specific because I don't use one because everyone has my cell but my industry is different in I have a couple hundred people or so vs random new clients calling, but I do answer all calls as you never know when that could become your biggest customer off of a referral.

So yeah I don't really know how to advise the best since I don't use the services I recommended above as I am the opposite of the question.   Even my Heating repair guy I don't think I have ever called him, but I just text an issue and he replies when he has time which is usually within 30 minutes.

[CareyJo]

Thanks for the comments... I definitely understand how it's different and successful for you.

I have looked at the available companies in our area that can do two lines on one phone.  The problem is that the outgoing call shows my husband's number, not the business number.  So that won't work.  It just seems our best option is to keep doing what we're doing.  And you're right - we've known for ages that we don't want customers who think they get to set the parameters for our business.  They are welcome to go elsewhere.

[DinaLRosenberg]

We have this in a slightly different manner- because we are a brick and mortar retail business and because I've been involved in the community for quite some time, people think they can just stop in whenever and speak to me- as if I'm not working and have stuff going on that I can just drop everything. It's amazing that people have no self awareness- as if I could just march into their job and speak to them for an hour LOL

[CareyJo]

Yesssssssssssssssss!!!!  That's it!!!!  They have no self-awareness or respect for business!  We love being small town and friendly but there is still a level of respect people should show.  I would never not treat anyone like a friend, but don't take advantage of me for it!

[Donnie-M]

I have to use the door to my office somedays, and I even lock it.  I have a window and someone will come up outside, and I motion them in, but sometimes I leave the door locked and then laugh at them as a "gotcha" and other times it is unlocked, so they are scared to try it, but have to.

Wait, am I being mean?  or am I toying with people emotions for amusement? or if someone gets bent out of shape over my harmless prank, does that mean they don't have the temperment for working here?  What is the meaning of life?

[CareyJo]

I totally get why you do it and agree it's necessary at times.  And if your employees haven't learned your personality traits, they will quickly!  LOL

[blockbench]

Dealing with clients bypassing your office and contacting personal phone numbers can be frustrating, especially when you've clearly communicated the process. To address this, you can set up automated responses for texts and online inquiries that direct clients to call the office directly for appointments. Ensure your voicemail greeting and business channels reinforce this message, stating that all inquiries should go through the office. You could also display reminders on your website and in your office. If clients continue to bypass the system, responding politely but firmly by reiterating the office protocol will help establish boundaries. Consistency is key to managing expectations and protecting your time, and setting these standards will help maintain professionalism across all interactions.

[CareyJo]

Those are great things but unfortunately not conducive to our business.  We work from home, we're a mobile service company with no employees.  Thanks for the great suggestions!!

[blockbench]

Sure, Welcome!

[Donnie-M]

@CareyJo You suffer from the gift/curse of you just can't do a bad job even if you don't want to do the job.  I get this, and I have it in food service sometimes where someone calls at last minute.  Most of the time it is not the "can", it's the impact on my team of saying yes vs. having standards.

[CareyJo]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!  100000%