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I live and die by #1. I have a last in, first out policy when it comes to requests via email. If you want something done, and you email me about it, it gets top
by bjplink 17y ago
I live and die by #1. I have a last in, first out policy when it comes to requests via email. If you want something done, and you email me about it, it gets top priority over whatever else I'm doing. One of the biggest comments I hear from people who are referred to me (which is the only way I've taken on work in the last 3 years) is the speed of my support.
- thomaspaine 17y agoLike he says though, you have to be careful with this. I once had a client who would constantly email me with support questions, many of which I answered multiple times but I guess it was easier for him to just email me instead of searching his email logs. I would always answer back right away, which would mean he would write me back with another question, and the cycle would repeat itself indefinitely. It basically became instant messaging with a 20 minute delay, and totally killed my productivity while making me hate this person. Also, I try to be as honest with my billing as possible, which means that if each support question takes 5 minutes out of my day, I might only bill this person for 30 minutes, even though the true cost to me is much greater because of my lost productivity. My solution was to ask him to either send me support questions in batch unless they were real emergencies, or pay me to set up a bug/feature tracker.
- DenisM 17y agotry exponential back-off :-)
- bjplink 17y agoWhen this happens to me, and it has several times, I just get real honest with the person and ask them to try and be a little more organized with their questions. Most people become real apologetic when they feel like they're abusing you... especially when you've built up a track record with them.