Message Not Reaching the Green? Try a Different Club

Sometimes getting through to folks these days seems like trying to drive a 500 yard hole with a putter alone. You just never seem to get there. Let’s face it, and particularly with the advent of all of this technology, we are all overwhelmed. Our inboxes overfloweth.

I am a huge user of email and I probably spend more time than most in managing and replying to messages yet, there are several folks who I correspond with regularly who rarely acknowledge, let alone reply to, my emails. However, by selecting a different “club”, I often get immediate responses from these same folks. My advice is to mix it up. So let’s take a look in the bag and see what we have available. Certainly, there are many not mentioned here but, these are the so very obvious …

Phone – Can be effective but voice mail rarely seems to work so why leave one?

Email – This most common of all tools appears to be becoming less and less the club of choice. I listened to a presentation by a well known gentleman the other day and he told us that he gets about 8,000 emails a day. He also said, and I believe that I heard this right, he can go through those in two 15 minute periods each day. Please define “go through”.

Twitter – Twitter can actually be quite effective. Direct messages will go through as both emails (depending on user settings) and into a column on whatever Twitter Client that they have chosen to use. A double whammy. @ Messages are typically monitored closely.

Facebook – You can comment on a post, write on a wall, or send a direct message. Depending on the users privacy settings, many of these actions may also result in an immediate notification via email, text, or on some other mobile or web-based client that they may be using.

LinkedIn – Send a message through LinkedIn just as you would in Facebook. They will show up via email but also in their LinkedIn inbox.

Chat – I have Google Chat and it works great. Google+ Hangouts allow for video. You can also have chat with Facebook Messenger. With Apple you get Facetime. Don’t forget about Skype.

Text messages – The only time I have my phone chirp at me is if a text message comes through. Instant attention grabber.

Fax – Saw a tweet this morning about the fax being some sort of ancient technology. My fax sits on my desk and that fax you send me lands right in my lap.

Snail Mail – See fax but it’s slower. Still, it does get there and lands on somebody’s desk. Hopefully.

The critical part in all of this is that your message must stand out from the rest of the herd to get noticed and get read. So, try a different club sometime and make note of which club seems to work best with which contact. Worst case scenario is that you can use your choice to smack them upside the head if needed.

P.S. The WordPress spell checker does not think “fax” is a word. It can’t be that old. Hell, I sold them when they first came out in ……… o.k, they’re that old.

Please note – This article was originally written and published by me on my NetWorks! Boise Valley site. If you are a B2B salesperson living in Boise, Idaho and are looking for a top-notch networking group … please visit the site and give us a shout!

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Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services

Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!