5 Reasons to Use the Phone Instead of E-Mail
If you are an SEO copywriter, love technology, or just don’t like dealing with people, you may be using e-mail too much and missing out on some important opportunities and communications. If you haven’t picked up the phone in some time, here are…
5 Reasons to Use the Phone Instead of E-mail
1. You have a long message to share.
If you have a lot of information to share with someone, pick up the phone.
After all, it takes time to write a lengthy e-mail, and the recipient may not even read your entire message because it’s too long. By having a quick conversation via phone, you’ll be able to convey your message and get an immediate response.
2. You need to react to someone’s response quickly and accurately.
If you are trying to sell something, share an idea or get feedback, pick up the phone.
You’ll be able to hear how the other person responds to your information right away. Then, you can provide an appropriate response to get your point across.
3. You want to promote your company.
If you want to promote your business to the media, pick up the phone.
The only way to form long-lasting relationships with specific media-members is to get to know them, find out what they want and provide it. Plus, it’s much easier to share your passion and excitement about a story idea via the spoken word.
4. You need to discuss a touchy subject.
If you need to talk to someone about a sensitive work or personal matter, and cant’ meet with them in person, pick up the phone.
No one wants to find out they’ve been fired or dumped via e-mail! Show some courage and have mature discussions about touchy subjects via phone, not e-mail. By hearing what someone else has to say, and how they say it, you’ll have a better chance of solving problems, improving relationships and showing empathy.
5. You have business contacts that you’ve never talked to on the phone.
If you have business contacts you know only via e-mail, pick up the phone.
Being successful in business is about building relationships with the right people, communicating and doing well at providing a particular product or service. How can you network and give your target market what they want if you don’t communicate with your business associates in real-time?
Make the Effort.
Yes, many of you hate to talk on the phone and would much rather stay at your desk and type. (You know who you are, you SEO copywriters and techies out there!)
But if you make the effort to communicate with people via phone rather than e-mail, you’ll save time and effort. Plus, you’ll be able to give better responses to improve sales, media hits, relationships, and overall results for your business.
“Ring.” “Ring.” “Ring.” Is that your phone? Maybe you should answer it?
For help with your SEO copywriting and communications, please contact me below or at www.rembrandtwrites.com.
February 1st, 2012 at 10:17 pm
I totally agree. I sure wish more people would stop hiding behind email and begin to at least talk. After all, information reduces uncertainty and when we can hear people voice inflection, it helps us understand and process the information better.
February 2nd, 2012 at 2:25 am
maybe its a good idea but i still prefer to use emails on business… i have a good strategy using one.
this is a nice article indeed. thanks for sharing!
February 3rd, 2012 at 3:02 am
The whole communication medium for business should use both tools equally, whatever the circumstance dictates. However, both are effective when used appropriately.
February 3rd, 2012 at 12:31 pm
Great article. To be a great communicator you have to know which medium to use. Thanks for the tips!
February 3rd, 2012 at 2:13 pm
Excellent concise points.
There are many instances when it is effective to phone first and reinforce or recap via email.
This gives both parties an opportunity to make sure they are on the same page.
Of course, maybe it would have been better to call you first and then type my response to your blog post!
Best,
Barb Girson
February 3rd, 2012 at 5:08 pm
Thanks for all of your comments everyone. Glad the information was a quick reminder to use both mediums accordingly!
Have a great weekend,
Melanie, rembrandtwrites.com
February 5th, 2012 at 3:06 pm
Melanie - Great piece. The personal element is so important in customer service, and easily forgotten in today’s virtual world. For my recent book “42 Rules for a Web Presence That Wins” I interviewed Rob Siefker, Director of Zappos’ Customer Loyalty team - and the resulting rule is called “Weigh High-Tech Against High-Touch”. Rob gave me some great insights into Zappos’ thinking in this regard - and how it pays off for them. In fact, I later wrote a blog posting contrasting Zappos practices with those of Google!
February 5th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
There is definitely a time and place for both email and the telephone. Of course there are those in business who seem to have an aversion to using email. Take our accountant, for example. For some reason he really doesn’t like to communicate via email, even for very simple, ‘email perfect’ pieces of communication.
If I send him an email asking even the simplest thing, I am pretty much guaranteed to get a phone call from him. It’s not that I don’t enjoy talking to him, but sometimes I would rather deal with a 30 second email than a 5-10 minute phone conversation.
February 6th, 2012 at 2:43 pm
I would add reason #6 - To build rapport. At rapport you have a loyal repeat client who provide quality referrals. Too often sales professionals hide behind SM because they lack the skills (and thereby the confidence) to effectively use the phone. Unfortunately, rapport is not built quickly through the written word alone. Face to face meetings and personal phone calls are best. Yes, it takes more time and I don’t advocate using the phone exclusively. SM has it’s place - (as here) but gaining the skills to be effective on the phone is vital in a competitive market place.
February 7th, 2012 at 7:48 am
Communication is a two way street… You deliver a message and you insure understanding through a variety of cues. When you email all you are only delivering a message, you have no way to gauge understanding.
When training my sales and customer service team I consistently share that “The phone is for real communicating. Email should be to confirm.”
February 10th, 2012 at 5:43 am
I think you’re so right about the importance of phoning - with emails (and comments!) you have to be so careful to strike the right note and no inadvertently upset or annoy someone. At least on the phone you can tell fairly quickly when a ‘faux pas’ has been made and go some way towards correcting it!
February 12th, 2012 at 3:01 pm
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February 27th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
I agree completely! I was astounded at the amount of communication done, just within my office, through Email rather communicating personally by phone or face-to-face. Email takes time, eliminates the feedback through vocal tone, facial expression and body language.
While it does provide written documentation (I can’t believe the amount of Email that must be saved.) it does not allow a relationship to be established. The first time I received an admonishment sent as an Email I was appalled. It felt cold and cruel and I refused to respond to it, even though I was unjustly charged.
I work to establish a relationship with every person coming into our office, whether it is a delivery person, a guest or a client. They all should feel as though they are important and have significance to us.