For the last several years I have become so lazy about picking up the phone. I'm really good about returning e-mail quickly but picking up the phone was just more effort that I was willing to make--unless it was essential.
This week a number of things came through e-mail and rather than hit REPLY, I phoned. Really. And you know what? The person at the other end in every single case was delighted to talk to me.
It started off by accident. I received an e-mail from my web site that said somebody in New York wanted to subscribe to my e-zine and he wanted information on me as a speaker.
Rather than sending the generic promotional package, I picked up the phone to find out what he wanted exactly and we add a lovely conversation. I found out about him, he found out about me and we are far closer to doing business together than we would have been if I had merely replied to the e-mail.
We all think we use e-mail because it's expedient. But you can exchange six e-mails without coming to a conclusion that could have been gained in one three-minute phone call. And the bonding!
The chance to actually hear a real voice, to chat, to giggle and to solve the problem quickly. WHOA! I remember doing that in days gone by and it felt really good.
Guess what? It still does!
I was just discussing this very thing with someone who works in an organization of a thousand people. “No one peeks their head in my office anymore; they send me an e-mail. I sit in a building with 1000 people and I’m lonely.”
And sometimes sitting in my office for one, I'm lonely too. It's amazing how talking to another human being dispels that feeling.
No, I'm not going to give up my e-mail, but I am going to be more inclined to call and speak human-to-human more often. How about you?
