Ohhhh, how happy he would be were he here to witness it. Yes, Alexander Graham Bell, after years and years of technological advancements, all of which promising the dream of more and better ways to communicate, Mr. Bell, the inventor of the telephone, is the hands down winner.
Seem odd? You need to think about it.
Back in the day, before the day of the World Wide Web, before smart phones, mobile phones, tablets, and the like, we had the phone.
Back then, in the world of business to business sales, our world was not only much less complicated, but it was a way more effective place when it came to connecting with those we wished to reach. Colleagues, suppliers, clients, or customers, it didn’t really matter, because all we had to do was pick up the phone and call. And with rare exception, we had a conversation.
So what happened? Well, around 1990 or so, the internet started to invade the business world and with that, email. Email made it possible to skip the whole phone thing altogether, and send what is basically, an instant letter. The beginning of the end for government postal services.
Before that, voice mail. Voice mail was invented in the early 1980’s, but didn’t really become the ubiquitous “secretary” it is today until the mid 1990’s.
Then came caller ID technology, invented by a little known Brazilian named Nelio Jose Nicolai, who for what it’s worth, is still fighting to collect royalties owed to him this day.
And on it goes. We have teleconferencing technology, web casting, webinars, web based learning, web based CRM systems and more. We get to hear why someone wants to talk with us before responding (voicemail) or just decide we don’t because we don’t recognize the number that’s calling (caller ID.) We no longer work nine to five – as we did back in the day, since technology didn’t permit contacting someone outside traditional office hours – and are expected to be “on line” and available, but even more importantly, accessible and engaged outside normal business hours.
In the old days everyone in the B2B space started their day in the office by looking through yellow or pink message slips to see who had tried to reach them. Now of course, it isn’t that simple. Now, we start the day by checking our email, our instant messages, our voicemail, our website enquiries and so on. And we don’t need to be in the office anymore to do so. We can do it from home, from a clients office, from the train or while on vacation.
Today, we don’t just speak on the phone. Today, we are expected to respond to email, voicemail, (often from multiple platforms) requests to connect, requests to respond, virtual meetings, tweets, or on line courses, etc, etc. In fact, the sheer volume of media that we are now required to be responsive to has become out-right overwhelming. This isn’t just my opinion. In my profession, I’m exposed to a ton of people, all of whom are living their professional lives in the B2B space, and almost to a person, they are all telling me the same thing.
They’re telling me they can’t keep up. They’re telling me that they have become largely numb to responding to all the engagement devices the business world expects them to be responsive to. Sales people tell me that clients and prospects don’t return voicemail messages, nor do they respond to emails. In fact, most sales people in the B2B vertical doubt that their voicemails or emails are even being listened to or read.
Clients, all sorts of clients, from mid level managers to presidents complain that their own messages, to their own employees, are not being responded to, and they suspect, even read.
So, what’s the bottom line? People are burnt.
Don’t drink Steve’s Kool Aid, and don’t get sucked in by Mr. Zuckerberg. If you really want to get hold of someone in today’s day and age, there really is only one really good tool to use, and it’s the phone.
So, stop and think about it. How many of your voicemail messages never get returned? How many emails do you send that just plain are ignored? How many “requests to connect” actually connect with you?
Try this instead.
- As mentioned in my last post, Call people early in the morning. Why, because generally speaking, people are in a better frame of mind that time of day. They are fresh. The day hasn’t backed up on them yet and they have yet to deal with the first of what most likely will be multiple fires that need putting out that day. People are kinder and gentler in the morning, before the digital assault on their senses has begun
- You like talking to gate keepers? I don’t like talking to gate keepers. If you want to avoid talking to gate keepers – make that getting intercepted by gatekeepers – then stop calling when gate keepers are in the office for goodness sake. Gate keepers generally arrive around 9:00am, and rarely stay past 5:00pm. Gate keepers usually take a break at lunch so, no rocket science here, if you want a better chance of getting a prospect directly, then your best bet is first thing in the morning, followed by after 5:00, and lastly, during the lunch hour.
- Client’s not there? Cease and desist leaving voice mail messages, even more important if it’s someone you don’t have a really good relationship with. Why? You just need to review the beginning of this post. When someone, particularly a really busy someone is already drowning in emails, voicemails, late night conference calls, etc., do you really want to be the person that expects them to do one more thing? Leaving voicemail creates work for the recipient. Do you have the station in that person’s life to give them more work?
- Listen to what people are saying. If the person you’re calling picks up the phone but tells you it’s not a good time, listen to them and tell them you’ll call back another time. The quickest way to alienate a client or prospect is asking them to engage in further conversation after they just told you they didn’t want to talk. FYI, this includes cliché and annoying tactics like “when would be a good time to call back” “or” when would your calendar be free?”
- Remember, if you need to, or are charged with “making contact” with someone, merely leaving a message or sending an email does not constitute making contact. Contact requires discourse between two or more individuals.
Just following the simple advice above will allow you take back control of your business life and actually connect with people, vs. spending valuable time participating in technology based solutions that seldom bear fruit.
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