How to stop clients messaging you and use Trello/project management tools instead?
I am working on 9 client projects and I use a project management tool to track everything (using a self-built tool now and I tried Trello, Notion, and Asana before).
Clients always skip the tools and send me emails directly. I end up having to copy and paste everything to the tools.
Do you have the same experience with your clients or team? How do you solve this?
Clients love using their own tools and ways of communicating, but you can always say that to provide the highest results, you want to use your own tools because it keeps you focused and organized.
When I was freelancing, clients always tried to impose their own tools. Usually, something like "Oh, we use Skype," "I'll invite you to our Viber group," "Telegram,"... So, it is absolutely normal to create some boundaries and standards for you to stay productive and organized.
Clients never complained about the tools.
What did you do when clients invited you to their tools? Did you have to switch between their tools all the time?
I politely asked them to use my tools instead. Or tried to find a middle-ground channel, like email.
For me personally, async communication is the most important. So no matter the tools we use, it is crucial for me that the clients understand that I can answer messages in X hours.
Some tools, like Trello, which you mentioned, are built around async communication. So it's much easier to set response time expectations in Trello than in WhatsApp, for example. :)