How to Lower Anxiety for You AND Your Clients

Overflowing email. Nonstop notifications. Too many apps. Software is great for productivity but too much tech adds stress and anxiety. If you and your clients are feeling a tad overwhelmed and need to dial down the noise while dialing up productivity, this article can help you tame digital burnout using proven techniques. 

Using lists quells anxiety. So, build them into your client processes.

Well-organized lists reduce stress and anxiety. Instead of expending mental energy trying to keep track of everything in our heads, lists help us prioritize and focus. They also help us avoid that sinking feeling when we miss an important message or deadline. So why don’t we dial down client stress and anxiety by keeping better lists for them? It’s because we’re probably using the wrong tools. 

Most client requests are made using email, text messaging, or chat apps. These are all communication tools. They aren’t task management tools. And since client communication tools prioritize the most recent messages, many requests sent to your clients simply drift down the page and out of sight. It is difficult for anyone to see what is most important when looking at an overcrowded inbox. This leads to stress and anxiety for firms because they often must wait as their requests go unaddressed and clients worry about keeping all the outstanding items straight. 

Task management tools approach the problem differently by letting clients know exactly what is due, when it is due, and presenting the “to-dos” in an organized list format. By making lists for clients and having a way to track what needs to be done and when it is due, the firm lowers the administrative and anxiety burden for both sides. 

A quiet digital space enhances your client’s focus - and yours. 

Email is a very challenging environment to collaborate in. Think about how many times you have logged into your email account with the intent of doing one thing and ended up doing something else entirely. Or think about how many times an important email has been missed or lost. Track how much time you spend searching email, chat, and text messages to find what you are looking for. Then, consider this from the client's perspective. How successful are your clients in retrieving messages and files you have sent them? Chances are that there is a lot of wasted motion for everyone when working in noisy environments like email. Email and chat are simply too busy to remain fully focused and productive. 

Engaging clients in a private space helps keep everyone on track. By eliminating the competition for their attention, clients can review the task lists you have set for them, provide focused answers, and easily search and retrieve information and files you have exchanged. Think of it like providing them with a quiet library to do their work in rather than asking them to work in Grand Central Station during rush hour. 

The private, quiet environment combined with clear, concise task lists will allow you to set up your clients for success. They can sit down, know exactly what they need to do, knock the items out, and feel the happy reward of knowing that they have completed everything you’ve asked for. And who doesn’t like a little dopamine reward from knowing that everything has been successfully completed?

Not only will your clients benefit from a structured task management tool, but your firm also will get more done too as staff spend less time chasing and more time working productively. It's a true win-win!

Let machines do the reminding. 

Now that you have your clients working down the lists you have created for them, you’ll want to make sure everything you’ve asked for comes back on time. Automated reminders are the way to go. Not only will automation save you a ton of time, but they will also make your clients happier. To prove that out, compare how much stress you feel when a person remarks that you are late with a deliverable. Now compare that to receiving a gentle automated reminder pointing out that the deadline has passed. It feels better being when you receive the message from a computer, doesn’t it? It’s because automated reminders don’t tap into our primitive social anxieties the same way that human reminders do. Automated reminders are less work for you too! 

In this new age of digital burnout, we hope you find these tips to lower anxiety for you and your clients to be helpful!

Our mission at Liscio is to provide the right tech + mindset solutions that allow firms of all sizes to put their clients first. By starting with the customer and delivering a secure mobile platform for them to exchange sensitive information with you, Liscio delights clients, increases engagement, and deepens their connection to the firm. Client Experience 2.0 begins with Liscio. We invite you to learn more about us at www.lisico.me.