Selling by email, that's typing!

f, s srnnrs HAVE BEEN cur and everyone is doing more than they have ever -fLdone. I find myself less and less able to speak with customers or track them down. It is harder than ever to speak live with someone.

You can leave a voice message that promises "your call is important to me, please leave me your name...." You know the one I mean, the one you never hear back from, the one that sends you into therapy, because obviously your call was not important. So then you have the dilemma of how many times do you call and leave a voice message without sounding like you are stalking or harassing them. Then you move to the email route. But as we all know, that is not the answer.

When I was traveling recently, I read a great article with the headline "Selling by Email, That's Typing." When I thought about it, that is absolutely true. Yet we are all guilty of it, including me.

We are becoming a business culture of never talking with one another. We are happy to tell the world on Facebook or Twitter even the smallest minutiae about our private lives, but we cannot pick up the phone and tell it to friends. Similarly, it has become too easy not to call someone, especially in business, including colleagues sitting in the next cubicle. We cannot get up, walk over, and talk with them; we just text or email them.

How many times have you sat listening to others making personal calls on the bus, at the airport, wherever? But how many times do you hear people actually making business calls and closing a deal? Rarely! After all, when your own telephone company does not want you to call but directs you instead to their website, it shows you where our culture is going. Personal interaction is still the best way to do business-and to have the best chance at maintaining your customers.

We are all constantly fighting the email battle-you know, 300 to 400 a day with about l0 of them having any merit. It has become the most abused form of communication available. If you are one of 20 voice messages you still have a better chance of getting answered than one of 500 emails. That delete button is far too easyl It's too easy to say no and, once you receive a no by email, how do you turn that around?

How much time is lost emailing every day (apart from the hours lost on noncompany business surfing the web-yes, we are all guilty) when it would be far better to pick up the phone and take your chances on getting through. After a while, you tend to put certain accounts into stereotypical buckets and then it becomes just too easy to decide not to call, but email. Over time, it just becomes the norm. But I do not think it brings the same results. It is far too easy for buyers/customers to hide behind email.

Very few deals are done exclusively by email. Human/voice interface is necessary. Yet as salespeople we are more and more guilty of sending our form emails that are not only impersonal, but have a small chance to succeed in their objectives. I agree that email is absolutely vital today for sending detailed information fast, but for closing the deal, it is still necessary to do it the old-fashioned way, with a call. I would suggest every sales manager walk behind their sales/telesales reps to see how many actual calls they are making. When they hear too much typing. there is a problem. Let's be honest: if sales can be done by email, why hire expensive representation? Typists are much cheaper.

Lastly,I am not against email. I will continue to use it and probably abuse it, but it will be my last resort, not my first. Let me know what you think at ajoakes@aol.comsorry, I mean please call me at (949) 8521990 and I will gladly return your call.

Alan Oakes, Publisher aioakes@aol.com

Bpii

Buililing Products lligest

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