Real-Life Communication
As the owner of your business, Timely Tricks, you often organize
homes for people who are just moving in or are preparing to move out. But
being so specialized, you also need to do a lot of marketing to let people
know what you do.
One of the marketing tricks that you have learned
is that by sending previous clients a newsletter with tips on how to stay
organized, you get a lot of referral business. This newsletter is also a way
of reminding past customers that you are still there and are willing to help
with their organizational needs as they arise.
It is because of the
newsletter that a potential client, Monica Stevens, calls you to discuss your
services and fees. During the course of the conversation, you learn that she
is moving from New York to California, from a home that she has owned for
nearly eight years.
Monica needs you to help in the moving-out and
moving-in process. She is moving from a large home to one that is about half
the size. She has collected a lot of personal items in the eight years she
has been in this home.
You tell her your services entail helping her
remove unneeded items during the time while she is packing. When it's time
to unpack in California, you will help her to organize her new home to make
the best use of the space. Your hourly rate is $45. Or you have a daily rate,
which includes up to 10 hours of work, of $400.
You also require that
Monica pay your round-trip airfare between New York and your home state, and
between California and your home state. The round trip airfare to New York
will be $385 and the round trip airfare to California will be $297.
You
estimate that it will take two days to complete the job on the New York side
and three days to complete it on the California job. Monica will also pay
hotel accommodations. In total, the hotel on both legs of the trip will cost
$425.
By the end of the conversation, Monica has agreed to use your
services, and you promise to send her a letter detailing the telephone discussion,
for her to sign and return to you.
Write a confirmation letter to Monica,
listing the details of the jobs you will perform, and the details of payment
and expenses. Remember to use proper grammar, accurate spelling and punctuation.
Be friendly, but not so casual that you seem unprofessional.
Jen Flatt,
a professional organizer, says that she uses written communications, "a whole
lot. If I've talked to a person on the phone, someone who may be a prospect
for the business, I will follow up with a letter thanking them for their time
and letting them know that I'd like to have their business.
"If I'm
going to do an interview, faxes and letter are routinely exchanged with necessary
details on dates, times and discussion topics," she says. "I'm constantly
in written communications with my regular customer to see how they're doing
and letting them know I'm here if they need anything."