“Email is for distributing information, calling a person on the phone is for building lasting relationships”

I recently saw this at the bottom of a colleagues’ signature and thought how perfect it was in explaining the many and varied uses of email.

There’s no denying that in 2014 email is an essential tool for business, but perhaps in our haste to embra

ce technology, person to person contact through phone conversations have fallen to the wayside a bit.
The same goes for voicemail.  Again, another great tool, but how many times have you ended up playing phone tag with a client or colleague?  To combat our frustration and to save time we ultimately end up turning to email to articulate our message in more detail.

Sometimes international time zones means that written communication is the most sensible way to communicate.  Yet, ‘talking’ with candidates and clients overseas via LinkedIn can become a challenge because cultural and language differences add another level of complexity to the way that people communicate in writing.

Of course it’s not possible to meet with everyone, through I do make a conscience effort to ring or Skype people if I can’t meet them personally.  Listening to a person’s voice, their tone and timing really does add another dimension to the relationship.

Prior to the invention of the telephone or telegram people did write letters to each other a built relationships over time.

Is it still possible today, or should we just organise a mutual time and pick up the phone? I’d  love to hear your thoughts on this so drop me a line on info@safetyservices.net.au