Marketing Mentor Tip #7: Don’t be lazy, pick up the phone.
Author of this post: Ilise Benun | About Blog Authors »
Don’t be lazy—pick up the phone
I know it’s tempting, but don’t do it.
Electronic communication makes it so easy to do business without ever talking to your client, but don’t get swept up in the virtuality of it all. There are times when you must have a real-time, live exchange with another person. And one of those times is before you quote a price.
If you simply send off a quote to a prospect you’ve never spoken with or met, you will be nothing more than a number in their mind—especially if yours is a higher number than they were expecting. They won’t have any experience of you. They won’t get to see how smart or how funny you are or how well you listen or what good questions you ask. None of that will come through if you just reply to a message.
Talking on the phone not only allows you to gather more information (the info you need) than they might volunteer, you will also have a chance to find out if what they’re asking for is in fact what they really need (often, it isn’t.)
Plus, there is nothing better than a conversation to create an impression about how you work and how you take care of your customers. And that is very very often what (good) clients base their decisions on.
So don’t be lazy—pick up the phone.
(And if you want a copy of the article, “How to Become a Relationship Artist”, send an email to ilise@marketing-mentor.com with “relationship artist” in the subject line.)
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May 24th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Nice marketing tip. A lot of people even in business avoid some times the phone. Email and other conveniences spoiled us, but still talking one to one over the phone is the best way to do your job faster.
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:28 pm
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