The Power Of A Phone Call
I have to figure out how to get this deal sorted out, you think. But, instead of picking up the desk phone or your mobile and talk to an actual person (because let’s face it most of the time we can’t be bothered), you type out an overly detailed email with too many bullet points. And then you trim it down, but then you don’t like the looks of the new draft so you add more detail and beef it up again. 5 drafts and 25 spell-checks later, you send it. You’re not terribly confident that your proposal will stick out from the hundreds of other emails that this company gets, but you hope for the best.
So, that scenario may have worked back when people had the time and patience for the novelty of digital communication, but I don’t think it works that simply anymore. In a sea of pings, and email requests and server issues and technological noise, people crave and respect human contact.
I’m not saying that this is the “new novelty” of getting back to old-fashioned basics, not at all. Technology has advanced us to the point where entire projects can be developed and executed on Skype and Process Street. I think that’s amazing. However, I think we’ve generally lost the incentive to reach out to people through a simple phone call, or a cup of coffee to discuss ideas. Okay, maybe coffee is a long-shot because we’re all busy throughout the day. But a phone call? Absolutely. There’s definitely time to have a 10 minute conversation. It makes both people feel inspired and rewarded. It’s much easier to judge someone’s voice on the phone rather than an email with vaguely snarky or passive-aggressive comments. Wait, what did he mean when he said that? Did she just roll her eyes at me? That’s what it read like… I mean, whose got time to psychoanalyse an email? No one. It’s annoying.
This doesn’t just apply to business, by the way. This can apply to lots of situations: a call to a friend about arranging dinner, a call to your mother-in-law (yeah, I know, that one’s like taking a bullet) babysitting help, a call to your spouse to say sorry after you threw his dinner in the bin because he was acting like a dick, a call to your parents just to tell them you love them.
Texts are efficient. Emails are the longer version. Why not combine the two and reach out to someone with honest efficiency and make business mean more? I guarantee that more business transactions were made, and both parties felt fulfilled, when I actually picked up the phone and spoke to someone.
So, let’s try the above scenario again, but this time…
I have to figure out how to get this deal sorted out, you think. You pick up the phone. Whilst getting through to That Important Person, you chat with a couple people along the way, and you smile. You find out their names. And then you get transferred to That Important Person, and he/she listens whilst you get your unrehearsed point across. They don’t judge you if you laugh out of nervousness (they laugh too), and you come across as genuine and forthright and earnest. And they want to work with you. They say they’ll email you a brief about the project. You hang up, and you think Well, it may not work out, but I connected. They know who I am and what I can offer. And they couldn’t have found that out in an email, that’s for sure.
