When asking for an update on an account how often do you hear "I dropped them a note and I am waiting for a reply......" Let's be clear e-mail is not a replacement for a conversation, it is solely an electronic, one-way communication. If you want an electronic equivalent to a conversation then by all means use IM, Skype Chat, etc. These all have the characteristics of a conversation, you know if the client has "heard" as they have to give an immediate response, no response tells you that they have not received the message.
Why do I think this is important well I was recently speaking to a senior manager of a professional services company, a supplier had just cancelled a meeting and he was fuming. I asked him why and he said "they didn't have the grace to call me, they just sent an e-mail" as far as he was concerned it completely undermined the relationship that the sales rep had been trying to build up. "I didn't mind the meeting being cancelled, but it would have been as quick to call me as it was to send the e-mail"
I have a simple mantra that helps me ensure I communicate with my clients in an appropriate manner "do to them as I would like them to do to me." If your relationship is purely e-mail based then e-mail is the perfect media. If you have moved on to a more "personal" relationship then your communication should be more personal (phone, text, IM, etc.)
I am not anti e-mail, but it is not a "real-time" communication tool and if you need to get a quick answer or to apologise for re-arranging a meeting, please use a more conversational based tool.
A key element of a sales cycle is rapport building and emails whilst appearing modern and easy (just like the all pervasive SMS) are a barrier to that process. Often people cancel meetings (as per your senior manager's experience) by email because they do not have to explain or be questioned: they handle the situation on their terms and often it avoids having to reset the date. Sales people often send emails because they know the situation demands some activity but they fear the answer. Emails help them avoid potentially hearing the wrong answer. The fear of knowing that it may not be a real sales opportunity or the timescales are not what they hoped or the budget has been taken away - all things that are business as usual to the sales person - leads them consciously or sub-consciously to try delaying tactics. The time created may allow them to find substitute business etc. If a sales person uses email I would want to know why they did not take the opportunity to make a call, telephone or in person, and I would explore what the sales person really thinks about the opportunity (their current achievement and business level being an indicator).
ReplyDeleteVery much a concern outside of sales as well. My firm is now actively encouraging people to take the personal approach and calling clients rather than just emailing.
ReplyDeleteEmailing should always follow a call so that both parties have confirmation of their discussion.
My take on email is very similar to Mark's.
ReplyDeleteHow many employees, Directors and Sales People drive to work thinking about what they have to do on any particular day?
I would suggest all of them.
So we get to work with a mental list of what we'd like to achieve and what needs to be done until....
Yes, we turn on our PC's, open outlook and are presented with meaningless and often pointless emails. The problem here is that what happens next is that all that we set out to do is replaced by replying to your inbox and everything else takes second place!
Have a look over your last week’s email and assess how many of them were critical that you responded within 8 hours? Again my suggestion is that there are very few because if they were critical then another means of communication would have been used... A telephone call or face to face meeting.
How would we feel if we queued for our grocery shopping only for 3 people to push in just before we got served? What is we were waiting to speak to someone only to be interrupted by 2 others who then took an hour before we got our chance.
Email has become an accepted way of jumping the priority queue and is fast becoming the single most biggest distraction to what it is that will make us productive.
I now only turn my outlook on for 15 minutes in any given hour to try and overcome these queue jumpers.
Hope this helps
Gary May - Co-Author of #1 bestselling book -SELLING: Powerful New Strategies for Sales Success