It’s the age old question should I email or call? Both are important ways to communicate and have their pros and cons.
The pros to emailing are it’s not as time consuming, you can send the same message to multiple people, document sharing, industry related updates and sharing positive wins or information. The cons to emailing are the message is not understood, they mistake the tone, they ignore the email and time wasted responding multiple times.
Email is a great tool when you already have a relationship with the person, it’s very difficult to build a relationship via email. You should always call the person if it’s the first time you’re meeting them. There are a few exceptions, for example if someone introduces you via email. Once you thank the person who introduced you, say hello and set up a phone call. If you are in the same city as the person set up a face to face meeting. Nothing builds a relationship faster than a cup of coffee. You should look at email as a platform to improve your efficiency.
The pros to the phone call are you establish a better relationship; you clearly describe what you want and the conversation ends with both parties having a clear understanding. The cons are it quickly shows if you’re not prepared, takes more time, effort and the dreaded call display sending you to voicemail.
The phone call is the most efficient way to strengthen your business relationship and improve your communication skills. The phone call also requires more prep work because you have to be ready to answer any question. Prepare the same way you would for a face to face meeting. You quickly lose creditability if you’re unprepared. The phone call is by far the best form of communication when you need a quick answer. On a side note, I consider skyping a phone call. Send a GoTo Meeting invite and talk to the person live. Make sure you know what’s on the wall behind you before the call.
People always tell me they hate it when the call goes to voicemail. I tell them that during your prep work have your voicemail message ready. Say your name, company and phone number clearly. Your message should be quick and to the point, DO NOT drag out your message. Leave a date that you’ll follow up with and tell them you’ll send an email confirming what you’d like to talk about. Sometimes people don’t pick up because they have no idea what you want. At the end repeat your name and phone number
In conclusion, ask the person how they like to communicate, they’re answer may surprise you. They might say text, snap chat or FB Messenger just to name a few. This also shows that you care about their time
