Sales

Lori- Yes pick up the phone to continue relationships. Don't eliminate someone from your "list" by email and don't forward personal emails. But I have to disagree about the reply recommendation. That would just load up an in-box and add to email ping pong. I would rather reply with a quick BlackBerry message that indicates that you are not sitting at your desk or the right reply. And yes you can hear tone in an email. Negative inappropriate messages come through loud and clear.

I have noticed several clients and Realtors who are now communicating by text messaging. Is this the new email? Once someone sends and receives text messages on a regular basis, you have to stop and realize not to abbreviate on emails and letters. You are right, the inflections in emails and text messages do not come across and something that is meant in a simple way can be misconstrued. I know I have been swamped before and forgot to reply to someone's email until I am falling asleep and remember it! It is a GREAT way of communication, but you can't beat the personalization of a phone call and a cheery voice. Also, anyone who would send an email destroying a possible working relationship should be banned from the internet because they clearly don't realize the impact of what they do!

Lori, wow, you just nailed some of my pet peeves! Thanks for putting it out there. Are you teaching email 101 class yet?

Thanks Lori. I love your to the point blogs. Here is an add-on. My wife and I are looking at real estate in another state. We connected with a Realtor on a trip and she did a fabulous job being a tour guide and getting us familiar with the market. We decided to send her some wine for her trouble. After she received it she sent me the following email. Hey, thanks for the great surprise! Even though you asked the question about wine it was still a surprise. Just this morning I was thinking how I should email you to check in on how things were going and then the package was delivered! Give my thanks to Carolyn too. Hope all is going well. She is a pro and what it told me was she knew she should get in touch but was not going to make a lame call. She was searching to find worth in the call or communication. She found it in wine. Take your time before reaching for the phone and find a good reason to call.

I saw a commercial earlier regarding Dunkin Donuts and their coffee line, and how you can order it in English. I chuckled at the ad because there were several customers in another "coffee shop" trying to order in what was termed a mix of French and Italian languages. Then it hit me...what perfect timing this is! With all the hype over the 3 hour shut down, Dunkin is saying we're here! As far as the training goes, you are so correct. The customer service experience should start at the top and move down. After all, if you work for a person you see treating customers rudely, why would you think you needed to treat them any differently?