Okay, maybe now is not possible or realistic.  But, ASAP should be your mantra. Especially for clients, but really everyone.  Yes, that means even those you do not want to speak with.

Monday’s meditation from 365 Marketing Meditations: Daily Lessons For Marketing & Communications Professionals, by Larry Smith and Richard Levick of Levick Strategic Communications, has a simple mandate:

“Return all calls (the) same day, period.  Exceptions are as follows: None.”

 There’s the story about the annoying client who called all the time, so the lawyer didn’t call her back.  After a number of attempts to reach her lawyer, she gave up and called another firm about her cousin who had just been run over by a Coca Cola truck that ran a red light.

Oops.

Another story was related by a lawyer I heard speak at a conference. He said he never goes to sleep at night without returning every call from that day.  Even at 9:00 p.m.  He said he usually doesn’t have the client’s file at home, but he extends the courtesy of telling the client what time in the next day or two in which he would get back to the client with more information.  He said his clients loved it, and I believed him.

True story: my doctor returned from vacation and called me at six p.m. on a Saturday night to give me the favorable results of blood work done in his absence.  NOW that was amazing!!!  Of course, my blood pressure went through the roof due to his unexpected call, but you can be assured that I became a hell of a referral source for his budding practice.

If you really cannot return a call or email promptly, empower someone to do so on your behalf. They can let the person know when you will connect. If you want to grow your practice, always follow this simple, common sense tactic. Return calls ASAP!