I’ll be the first to admit that e-mail communication doesn’t always do a good job of getting your point across.
E-mail is great for sending files and communicating simple ideas, but e-mail unfortunately doesn’t afford the recipient the benefit of tone and inflection, and sometimes no amount of emoticons will do it.
Here’s when to pick up the phone and speak to a person live:
- You have something of a sensitive nature to discuss with someone. I remember when a guy broke up with Carrie on Sex in the City via a Post-it note. Such poor form that she avoided getting arrested for smoking pot on a public street in NYC. Well, that’s never happened to me, but a client with whom I had not only had a close working relationship but also a close personal relationship ended our working relationship via e-mail. She said she just wanted to let me know as soon as possible, but it said volumes about her inability to have hard conversations.
- You and the recipient have tried to communicate your points via email at least three times, it’s two days later and you’re still not on the same page. Sometimes e-mail can make even the simplest things so complicated. If you’re not getting what the other person is saying–or vice versa–simply pick up the phone. Many times leaving a simple voice mail for the person has worked to clear up confusion. Again, it’s all in the tone of voice.
- You’re thanking them. People don’t say thank you nowadays. Perhaps I’m old fashioned or just haven’t gotten with the times, but a handwritten thank you sent by snail mail is always best. Barring that, a sincere telephone conversation can convey what an e-mail never can. Once, a company wanted me to write about it on this blog. I thought it had a cool concept, but there wasn’t a fit and it didn’t feel authentic, so I didn’t write about it right away. Then one day, there was a fit and I did. I sent the CEO a link to let him know that I finally wrote about his company. No response ever. No comment on the blog post. No quick voice mail. Nada. So very not cool.
So, just pick up the phone, will ya?
This entry was posted on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 5:13 am and is filed under E-mail, Productivity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.Leave a Reply
