Consistency in Communication

If someone left a voice mail message on your phone asking for a reply, would you answer them by writing a letter and mailing it to them via the postal service (snail-mail)?

Sounds pretty absurd, doesn’t it?

Why…WHY do people insist on responding via a phone call when someone asks a question via another means of communication (such as a text message or an email)?

A text message or an email is a permission-based means of communication.  That means, the receiving party decides whether or not they want to participate in the communication.  A phone call, like a door knock, is an interruption-based means of communicating; the receiving party is interrupted in order to communicate.

Now, let’s go back to our absurd example:  a phone call = interruption-based communication.  Responding via snail mail = persmission-based communication and will probably not be effective.

If you receive an email asking for something (permission-based form of communication), respond via the same means UNLESS the requesting party asks you to do otherwise (gives you PERMISSION to give them a phone call in response to their request).

Sales people make a huge mistake in thinking that a request for information via permission-based marketing is an invitation for a phone call (an interruption).  A perfect example of this is “text for info” – when a consumer texts a request for more information on a product, the system generally captures that consumer’s information and sends it to the sales person.  The sales person then has a phone number to follow up with the consumer.  Bad idea.  The consumer has been “tricked” into their information being sent to the salesperson – do you think they really want to be interrupted by a phone call?  No, they don’t.  If they wanted to communicate via a phone call, they would have started the information process with a phone call.

Be consistent in communicating and respectful of the consumer’s wishes when attempting to alter the means of communication.

Tagged as: communicating, communication, interruption, Marketing, permission, sales, text messaging