Hi guys --

I'm currently in the process of setting up my client and billing policies and procedures -- and one of the things I'm having the toughest time with is getting my head around how to best schedule client work. I would love any and all input as to how you manage your clients. Specifically:

1. What are some of the guidelines you have in place for clients when it comes to scheduling your time?
2. Do you offer any type of planning worksheet for your clients, so that they can get their To Do items to you in a timely and organized manner?
3. How to you prioritize client work? What types of policies do you have in place to guard against all of your retainer clients wanting to use their block of hours in the same day or two?
4. Do you offer any kind of incentive for clients to get their To Dos and Deadlines to you far in advance (i.e. the beginning of the month)?
5. How do you juggle/prioritize work for retainer, PAYG, and project clients?
6. Also -- how do you schedule your own calendar and make sure your don't overbook and overwork yourself? I'm a bit of an organization junkie and would love to hear the "nuts and bolts" of how you keep everything organized.

I would love to hear what has worked best for you -- and hear of any "pitfalls" I should be aware of when it comes to scheduling client work.

Thanks -- and I can't wait to hear what you all have to say!

~Melissa

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www.spaceagesecretary.com

I learned the hard way that if you make yourself available at odd hours clients will [naturally, and fairly enough] assume you are always available to them at those odd hours. I no longer answer email after hours or on weekends UNLESS it is an extreme emergency and I am able to do so without compromising whatever it is my family is involved with. And I also do not publish a company phone number - I know this is highly unusual, but because my practice is generally referral-based I don't find it necessary to do so, and I really like the privacy this affords me.

Generally, work is addressed on a first-come, first-served basis but if I have 10 small items and 1 larger item all waiting to be done I'll usually sweep the ten things off of my to-do list so that I can get them out of the way and focus on the bigger task. I use my email inbox as my organic to-do list - anything that hasn't yet been addressed remains marked as unread until I've completed it or replied to the client for follow up of some kind.

I don't work on retainer so I don't have a good answer for your questions related to retainer clients.

Looking forward to reading other members' responses to these questions as well!

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Melissa,

I am an avid scheduler. I plan my days the best that I can, and I make sure that all of my personal/family appointments are in my calendar so that I can plan accordingly. To answer your specific questions:

1. I'm up front with my clients in the beginning about scheduling time. It's in my contract that I have a 3-day lead time. But, I really strive to complete all work within 24 hours. It keeps my clients happy and it keeps me moving along steadily.
2. No, I don't offer anything like that. I use clientspot, basecamp and relay (for real estate transactions) to keep my clients in the loop about what is going on.
3. I prioritize simply by using the best judgement that I can at the moment. I enter the incoming projects into client spot with their tasks and I work on them by importance.
4. I don't offer anything like this. Doesn't seem relevant in my business.
5. Same as #3 since all of my clients are retainer clients.
6. As I said before, I make sure everything is in my calendar and I schedule plenty of in-between time as well.

My biggest pitfall was when I had a client who didn't adhere to my boundaries and would skype me constantly and I was unable to focus on my other clients. Since we cut ties, I now only have clients that respect my time and I respect theirs.

Oh, and I just wanted to throw in that I LOVE your website. Really cute and creative!

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April Sullivan
The REVA Academy

" ... if I have 10 small items and 1 larger item all waiting to be done I'll usually sweep the ten things off of my to-do list so that I can get them out of the way and focus on the bigger task."

I'm exactly like that, Tess! Gotta take care of the little stuff before tackling the biggie. Otherwise, the little stuff will crowd me in and I won't be able to concentrate. Is that efficiency or psychosis?

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Mary H. Ruth/Virtual Writing & Communications
http://www.writingVA.com

Thanks for your replies! It appears that there really aren't any hard and fast rules -- and that coming up with guidelines for my clients will have to be more on a trial and error basis as I grow my business. The good news is that my business seems to be growing (yippee!) -- and all of my clients are very understanding of the fact that for these first few months they are "guinea pigs" as well as clients.

I have pretty strict rules in place as far as hours, rush work, etc. And, in the welcome kit I'm developing, I've been working to put together a best practices list for how to be a stellar client -- and am including some worksheets that they can use for brainstorming To Dos for me, etc.

I really appreciate you guys taking the time to share what works best for you!

And, April, thanks for the website complement! It has a long way to go until it's complete (I'll be putting it up for review, once I finish with all the content) -- but it's always so awesome to receive good feedback!

~Melissa

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www.spaceagesecretary.com

Tess said:

Originally Posted by Tess

I use my email inbox as my organic to-do list - anything that hasn't yet been addressed remains marked as unread until I've completed it or replied to the client for follow up of some kind.

I do this too. Years ago, a boss of mine looked over my shoulder & saw dozens of 'unread' emails & exclaimed with horror, "Don't you ever read your email?"

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Lezly Harrison
Laserdog Productions - Code that Doesn't Bite

Right now I have a project that is estimated to take 40 hours & my goal is to hand the finished product to the client in 2 weeks or less. There is no way that I fill up a 40 hour week with one task. I use the flags in outlook according to my own color coding system. Purple: new or potential sales, Yellow: Save, File or FYI and so forth I think that I will try not to spend more than 4 hours a day on a project unless it can be accomplished in one day. My email is my main method of organization & I email myself to add to the to-do list.

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Crystal Chambliss - YourAdminCenter
Owner (Virtual Assistant)

Melissa - like most of the others have replied, I only work on retainers. As for prioritizing, I pretty much only take on 10 hour retainers (with two exceptions), which in reality means that most of my clients only require about 2.5 hrs. of my time per week. Depending on the tasks that I do for those clients, I know if that means that I need to check in every day for 1/2 hr and work for them, or if once a week I go around to all my tasks for them and just get it all done then. Totally depends on which client.

I also use email to schedule / track work, as well as Airset or dotproject. I use gmail rather than Outlook, but I have adapted it to pretty much work the same way, without having to deal with all the spam issues and slow-downs that I used to have to deal with my Outlook.

OH - and my standard is 9am-3pm office hours...but my clients know they might get get lucky and hear from me outside of those times, and I quote a 48 hour turn around on new projects...always aiming to under promise and over deliver!

Love your website concept and design!

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Christine Wade - Real Estate Virtual Assistant
http://www.eRealtyAssistance.com