eMail Growing Unreliable? Is “Chat” the New Client Contact Medium?

By Tom Chandler on Jun 20, 2007 in Business of Freelancing

I remember freelancing prior to the advent of email. You needed something? You called your client. You drove to a meeting. Or sent a fax.

Google Talk -- Fit for Client Contact?

Now we’ve got email. It’s fast. It’s easy. It’s better.

But over the last six months, several of my client emails simply disappeared. Gone without a trace.

Spam filters? My ISP? Mail server? Sun spots? As spam (and spam filters) grow more aggressive, I’m looking at alternative contact channels.

Up For a Chat?

I’m curious; who’s using online chat (Google Talk, Yahoo) for client contact? After all, there aren’t any spam filters between me and my Google Talk or Yahoo-enabled clients.

In some cases you can transfer files and leave voicemail (no more lost copy files or invoices).

In the past, I didn’t publicize my online chat addresses hoping to avoid needless interruptions. After all, I can handle a client’s email in ten minutes — when my little brainstorm has petered out.

Maybe it’s time to rethink that strategy. Perhaps it’s time to aggressively pursue “chat” contact with clients.

So I’m curious. Who’s using chat tools for client contact? And why?

I created a poll, but welcome your comments below.

{democracy:1}

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10 Comment(s)

  1. I’ve been using some version of online IM/chat since the mid-80’s. Then it was simply fun to see how many private conversations I could keep track of. Today, while it can be intrusive at times, many times I find it a very easy way to connect with a client to discuss quick items while still working. I use AIM and Skype as my IM clients and have recently included my IDs in my biz signature.

    Roberta Rosenberg, The Copywriting Maven | Jun 20, 2007 | Reply

  2. I have never been a big fan of chat - in my corporate/tech support days I did use it and found it about 50% useful and 50% annoying interruption - but there are ways to manage this better and I am starting to use it with some copywriting clients.

    I wish there was a single platform, though - rather than several competing ones.

    Roland Head | Jun 21, 2007 | Reply

  3. Email is definitely being thrown away by some web hosts and ISPs, most notably GoDaddy and cox.net. I ranted about this over at Absolute Write and my blog a while back when GoDaddy suddenly refused to let me contact my client.

    Most disturbing is that this is being done without their customers’ knowledge or permission. This is not the mail that goes into your spam folder. It is deleted from the mail server before they even look to see who it’s addressed to, so you can’t whitelist it or otherwise get it. The only answer is to change providers - and let them know why you are leaving. Assuming, that is, you ever find out it is happening.

    The morale is: always give to and get from your clients a backup communication (like a phone number) in case email fails.

    As for chat, personally I just loathe it. It’s the whole “stop what your doing and talk to me right this second” thing that irks me. Email me or phone me. If I client really wants chat (I had one who did) I’ll suffer through, but I’ll grumble to myself the whole time :)

    Andy | Jun 21, 2007 | Reply

  4. I’ve been testing Trillan, which allows me to monitor AIM, Yahoo and a couple others from one piece of software. Google Talk runs separately.

    I’m going to add it to my signature and see what happens. I’m not the most tolerant human being when it comes to interruptions. Could be a bust, but I believe it’s worth a try.

    The question of email is an interesting one. The real cost of spam isn’t so much the volume of mail that needs to be handled, it’s the loss of faith in the system’s ability to reliably deliver messages.

    Thanks for the your insights.

    Tom Chandler | Jun 21, 2007 | Reply

  5. Hey Tom;

    Email is still my main form of comm.

    Hey, I liked you old WordPress template better than this.

    This pink is making me “real mellow” :)

    MIke

    Michael A. Stelzner | Jun 23, 2007 | Reply

  6. No chat for me, thanks. I’ll stick with the ‘old-fashioned’ email. I guess I like my privacy too much to be required to stop whatever I’m doing and talk to someone because I suddenly get an IM.

    I don’t usually give clients my phone number, either, for largely the same reason, but I will give my number out to trusted clients that I feel comfortable with.

    Even though chat is becoming so popular, I really don’t think e-mail is going anywhere anytime soon.

    Michi | Jun 23, 2007 | Reply

  7. No phone numbers to your clients? Wow. Don’t think that would fly with my clients, but the quiet would be nice.

    Tom Chandler | Jun 25, 2007 | Reply

  8. I read an article in information week about the reliablility of email (Written in 2004)…the author did a controlled test with over ten thousand volunteer participants.

    Only 60% of his mail got through.

    Barry | Aug 20, 2007 | Reply

  9. Even a 95% success rate isn’t very good when you’re talking about e-mail communications with clients. A missing e-mail hurts.

    Thanks for the information!
    TC

    Tom Chandler | Aug 20, 2007 | Reply

  10. Here you go:

    http://corlive.com

    No more SPAM :)

    tommy | May 24, 2008 | Reply

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