I bet you have some very tech savvy people on your team. You might check and make sure these and others on staff are not committing some of the seemingly harmless yet truly costly errors when communicating in this fashion. First, you might share with them (and the management team) some realities of electronic communication.
Things that customers and people in general determine when reading these messages:
– Character
– Personality
– Professionalism
– Intelligence
Communication involves 3 separate areas:
– Words
– Voice inflection (tone)
– Body language
Unfortunately, your words only account for 7% of the total message being received.
More important is the emotion behind that message. With email, you only have words. Therefore, greater attention is required to communicate effectively.
Rules to share with your team:
- 1 – Think before you write. What message are you trying to convey? What results do you want?
- 2 – Be concise – i.e. Short and sweet.
- 3 – Understand the importance of grammar, punctuation, and content. The reality is that people are judging you and poor grammar leads to negative assumptions.
- 4 – Don’t use texting shorthand in emails. Treat emails as today’s version of handwritten letters.
- 5 – Avoid sarcasm and risky humor. Without the benefit of voice inflection and body language, it’s just too risky.
- 6 – DON’T TYPE IN ALL CAPS. This is the equivalent of shouting.
- 7 – Read your email aloud before you send it. When reading silently, the human brain has a tendency to speed-read and miss things. You’d be surprised how many edits are needed before pressing send.
- 8 – Italicize, underline or bold an individual word to create the desired emphasis.
- 9 – Consider having someone proofread your email – if part of your message is confusing, it’s better to know beforehand. By proofreading, someone else may also catch some of the grammatical errors you have missed.
- 10 – Write good subject lines. People receive a considerable amount of email each day. Make sure your subject line captures the heart of the message and grabs their attention.
You may just plug a leak when you meet about this critical area. It is imperative that everyone pay much closer attention to what it is they are sending to customers!
Want to increase your profits using email? Call The Mar-Kee Group today!
David Martin
The Mar-Kee Group
888-300-4629
251-490-7010 (cell)
markeegroup.com
The Mar-Kee Group is proud to celebrate 20 years of outstanding Sales, Service, and Management Training.
Recent Comments