Recently, I have had to deal all sorts of communication issues including a lack of or rather no communication when the internet went down for several hours after the landscapers cut the cable line; and even miscommunication, with service appointments and gathering information on office equipment email and internet links. We are all so use to now-a-days letting the keyboard do the talking for us and sending a message across the country to have it delivered instantly at any time of the day or night. We think nothing of it and accept it as part of routine business life.
But there is something to be said for reflecting back on the way people use to do business before we had all the technology we use today. I am all for progress, innovation and making business more productive and profitable. Thanks to modern technology I have been able to streamline my work and live where ever I choose yet talk to CEOs, presidents and business owners across the country, from New York to Hawaii, every day.
But somehow, along the way of all this technological progress, we have lost or forgotten our business social skills. People don’t build or maintain relationships as they once did. They don’t get to know each other as they once did. Business people don’t build relationships in such a way that they know who they can depend on and truly trust. Lifetime customers and lifetime employees are becoming more and more rare.
So much is based on speed and bottom line. An email, a Tweet, a Facebook post are all characters on a page. Although you are communicating with words we are also dependent on those words providing accuracy with intent, emotion and involvement from the reader on the other side. This can, and often does, lead to misinterpretation. In business, misinterpretation can be costly.
Consider today how to improve your business by starting to make more personal contact either by phone or in person – or even by Skype on the internet. Have lunch with your business associates. And yes, I understand how social marketing may now be a more important part of your business these days. But it’s not instantaneous like a one-on-one conversation is. It is a different sort of conversation and way to communicate. And depending upon what business you are in, social marketing can be more of a public relations tool than something where sales are easy to track. You need to recognize which forms of communication are best for business and determine how much time, money and attention you wish to give each.
For many business people, including yourself perhaps, break down the barrier, the isolation that comes with email, Twitter, Facebook . Tell someone it is “good to see them” or that you will “be looking forward to the phone call“. Build those relationships that will make your business stronger. We are all seeking and looking for those great relationships in life that will bring us success.