Is Email sabotaging your sales efforts?
This cover article in Sales & Marketing Management discusses the need for a strategy for email communications. Mostly, it warns against salespeople 'hiding' behind email, instead of engaging the client. It suggests that "more important communications...and communications with new clients are almost always more effective in person".
In this sidebar, called Don't Hit Send, the advice about what messages not to email is pretty common-sense, too, but this one attracted my attention. Why? Its probably the easiest trap to fall into:
When a client e-mails you a question, more often than not your first reaction is to hit "Reply." But your response probably doesn't answer the question he didn't ask yet. "When a customer asks a question, there's frequently a question behind the question," Turmel says. If you call your client instead of e-mailing him back, you can respond to his real concern, be proactive, and prevent a barrage of e-mails that can tie up your time.
2 Comments:
At June 10, 2004 4:32 AM, Anonymous said…
This seems like poor advice to me, but perhaps things are different for the industry I'm in. If I email you a question, I expect an email in reply. If I wanted to talk about it over the telephone, I would have called you. With email I get to control when I deal with it, and when I respond... but a telephone call interrupts whatever I'm doing. That's lost concentration & productivity for me, and that's just going to annoy me.
If you must use a telephone call, why not suggest that to the client in your reply to their email? While you're at it, ask what time would be suitable to call your client. Check their timezone as well, too many businesses forget to do this. You could even invite the client to call you if they have further queries.
At June 10, 2004 8:58 AM, Dave J. said…
For another response to this post is at boyink.com.
Requesting a phone call in the email is a good idea, but likely not responded to, as the emailer is probably trying to limit engagement.
At least I will agree that an email reply should be made even if you do decide to call, if only to help stand as a record of the specific answer.
The point, as a salesperson, is to continue to be sensitive to the need for engagement, instead of just answering questions.
Post a Comment
<< Home