This is a short one…
But, an important one.
I was on the phone with a client earlier this afternoon, from my hotel room here in Sydney (I’m in Australia for a couple of speaking gigs). We were discussing the expansion of his calling campaign with my call center. He’s been with us for almost 2-years and we know each other well – however, this is his first expansion.
It was a short, sharp and to-the-point conversation where we discussed price breaks, set-up, start up time as well as training of new recruits.
The entire call took no more than 20-minutes. The result was additional income for our company, extra support and lead generation capabilities for his business, and we both left the ‘table’ happy.
After the call, I sat and asked myself how long the decision to expand would’ve taken if we had of handled it like so many other people do nowadays with important business decisions – via email.
This drives me nuts – really. I even get emails from people that work for me, in my office, when I’m in the office – instead of them just popping their head around my door to answer a quick question!
Email is for Confirming Details, Not Having Discussions
Hours, if not DAYS would have gone by, taking into consideration time-zone differences, and everything else that would have reared it’s head. And the chances of the ‘deal’ dropping off the table would have been very high.
He had a couple of concerns that I took care of quickly and effectively, right there on the call, which enabled the decision from his end to happen – and happen faster.
The moral of the story, children – pick up the damn phone.
It’s been used in business for decades, and will still be, for decades to come. Don’t hide behind emails – especially in a sales related situation – it’ll get you nowhere.
Emails (or any other type of ‘virtual’ communication) don’t close sales.
People do.