Human bond of friendliness

We all use e-mail today - or do we$%:

Have you ever asked your customers and potential customers how they'd like to hear from you$%: Some of them might check e-mail messages regularly throughout the day; some of them might check their messages only once or twice a day; and some of them might not use e-mail at all.

If you've been automatically using e-mail to avoid lengthy phone conversations, first check to see if that's also your customer's preferred method of communication. Then consider the benefits of picking up the phone.

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I know, e-mail is convenient, it gives you a record of what was said, and it lets you communicate without wasting any time on chit-chat. But it also removes that little human bond of friendliness. It prevents you from finding a common ground - such as a shared interest in a hobby. The phone allows that.

Using the telephone also aids in communication. A misunderstood question in an e-mail can take several messages back and forth to clarify. On the phone you can say "No, I meant..." and then you can re-state your question in a different way. Instead of being a time-waster, the phone can sometimes be a time saver.

Be sure to ask your customers if they'd prefer documents sent to them by e-mail or FAX - because some people really do prefer the FAX. Remember that they're busy too. They might not want to sit at their computer opening files and printing pages of documents. For some, it's much more convenient to walk over to the FAX machine and pick up the pre-printed documents.

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There's an old saying: "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Let your customers know that you care about communicating with them - their way. Asking is merely adding another level of customer service.

Knowing how your people like to communicate can be even more important with prospective customers.

Say you're sending a proposal for a project - and competing with another vendor. If you assume that your prospect reads his or her email regularly you might transmit your proposal as an attachment.

If your assumption is wrong, and if your competitor has taken the time to learn that your prospect really wants to receive documents via FAX, your prospect might not even see your proposal until after the job is awarded.

It only takes a minute to ask the question, and it might make a big difference in your income.