Is Email the new “Death of a Salesman”

The phone in my office is hardly used because email is my addiction of choice, plus I spent almost all day filling OfficePro shipping labels. I can write my message at 3am and my recipient can read and respond at 5am or 5pm whether they’re in Scottsdale, Scotland or Shanghai. It’s a beautiful thing and gets the job done.

But does it?

Researchers for years have noted that recipients misunderstand our intention more often than not.

Yet for some reason, we think OUR emails and texts are fully understood by busy colleagues, managers who are juggling twenty priorities and prospects – people we hardly know other than through their LinkedIn profile.

We are convinced our emails are so clear and demonstrate such care that our reader will love, trust and advocate for us. We’re wrong.

Instead they’re reading messages on the run, in a vacuum and they’re focused on their agenda.

Our overconfidence in conveying emotion digitally is costing sales.

Yes, emojis and bitmojis help. They’re the best body language we have when we have no actual body language.

But why put a sale or a relationship on the line when every bit of research tells us that readers consistently mistake sarcasm for serious, and funny for inappropriate, and busy for rude.

The fix is easy.

Your prospects need to hear your care, your passion for their success, your concern for their well-being. Even more, you need the opportunity to hear their intonation, the question in their voice, their enthusiasm and especially their silence. Your emoticon might be cute but it won’t boost your value proposition, reputation and results like a phone call.

Pick up the phone. It’s the old new school way to avoid the “Death of a Salesman.”

BONUS
Give yourself permission to make the phone call.

“I’ll plan to phone you Tuesday afternoon unless another day is more convenient for you,” does the trick. Most likely if they aren’t available, they’ll email you back with an alternate date.

And if the worst happens and your call goes to voice mail? What a wonderful opportunity to engage them with your the message you leave for them.

For information on a customized email sales writing workshop for your group, please email Sue@SpeakerSue.com or complete our quick Interest form to check Sue’s availability. Count on boosting productivity, professionalism and profits!