Crossing Time Zones: how to effectively work with international clients when working from home
We, as a global community, have changed the way we work over the past two years. With more people working from home, we have seen an even larger rise when working with clients spanning different time zones. This requires different strategies to efficiently support international customers as more of us work from home.
As the “new normal” for many of us, we need to learn and adapt our way of working to remain successful and prosperous. These five tips on how to effectively work with international clients in different time zones will be useful for you whether you or new to work from home or not:
Be transparent about your boundaries when it comes to your time zone
Let your clients know where you are in the world. This is easy discussion to help manage the work relationship at the start. You want your client to know that you are either ahead or behind their time zone. This will allow them to have a better grasp as to when they will receive a project or an email from you.
Have a frank and honest conversation with your client that you are five hours behind them and when they are well into their day – you’re just starting yours.
Clients want to know that you are honest and the best way to be honest is to be transparent about your hours when working from home. This will show them that you have your own schedule that allows you to meet deadlines, so they will not be disappointed.
Be specific when it comes to deadlines
It is important to be specific, when it comes to working with clients internationally. You don’t have the luxury of just being able to pop into someone’s office or give someone a quick call. Set regular check in calls with your clients and provide updates to avoid questions as deadlines begin to close in.
Use the 24-hour clock when confirming when assignments or projects will be completed. This will save any confusion because then your client will be able to easily pop that time into Google and they’ll know when they should be hearing from you. If you want to take it another step further, tell them the time your deadline is in their time zone as well! This will show that you’re considerate and aware of where they are in the world too.
Effective use of smartphone and calendar invites
Smartphones are a great tool right at our fingertips. Those clock apps will allow you to add any time from around the world. Have a client in Zurich and you are in New York? Use the clock app to see if your 2:30 pm question may interfere with your client’s children’s night time routine.
You know what else you can do with your phone? Set calendar invites! Calendar invites help you control your meeting times and control your deadlines. This locks in a committed time for you and your client and syncs up with your client’s time zone. Once they accept the invite, everyone is committed to meet at that specific date and time. This article highlights top apps to improve your time management.
Understand cultural differences to gain insights from your global clients
Working with clients internationally means that you will meet people from all over the world. This means that cultures will be different. Be aware of any holidays or even the different work times for each country. This could mean that the email you sent won’t be answered for a couple of days because of a holiday and that’s okay!
You being aware of these cultural differences will also set you a part from everyone else when you’re working from home. Your international client will see that you really care and that you are trying to understand and respect their culture. That goes a very long way when working will people across the world.
5 to 15-minute meetings
Utilizing multiple resources to improve meeting efficiency allows you to be respectful of your time and your client’s time. One of the ways in doing that is by setting up a quick 5 to 15-minute meeting with them. Your clients will appreciate the quick check in and the shortened time.
It’s harder to build good business partnerships over the internet, but it’s definitely doable. Working from home offers that flexibility to make those phone calls and jump on those video calls that builds rapport. These short and quick meetings can get the information you need and provides another touch point for your client. These meetings give your customers insight to you as a person especially with video calls to see your facial expressions. For more insights, this article highlights ways to make meetings shorter.
In Conclusion
This new way of working is new for many people, so mistakes will be made, but this list was made to help you with this transition. Working from home has many pros and cons, but so does every other way of working. These five tips are useful when it comes to effectively communicating with your international clients, so make sure to give them a try because building that strong rapport will go a long way – it’ll even cross oceans.
