Insights

Stop hiding behind emails

Don’t get me wrong. I think technology, emails, Google, LinkedIn, FaceTime etc are wonderful. I’m not a Luddite, living in the past. But then again, wait, maybe I am living in the past?

Emails are fast, concise and have their place in agency communications with clients. They may be ‘efficient’, whatever that means. Efficient is not the same as effective. Read that again – efficient is not the same as effective. Emails are not a replacement for face to face meetings with clients. You cannot beat a face to face meeting with a client or colleague.

What I see most weeks are some of my clients and prospects running faster to accomplish more, to juggle more, to do more. The reality, I believe, is we accomplish less.

“Twice as fast, twice as good, twice as cheap” is bull****.

There are so many reasons not to under-estimate the benefit of face to face meetings. .

1. In a face to face meeting you can build trust. From a physiological perspective Oxytocin is released in a face to face meeting which builds trust. Oxytocin is known as the trust hormone. Oxytocin can’t be ‘transmitted’ on the phone, in emails, even during a Video-conference. Without trust it is much harder to make a sale.

2. Some people seem to think it is acceptable that they can be more unpleasant in an email than they’d be face to face or even on the phone. In an email it is much easier to misinterpret the meaning of the words. There are some schools of thought that if we need to lie we prefer to do it by email rather than face to face.

3. To me it’s all about the relationship. Whether with a client, a colleague, a boss or a supplier. With the right relationship I will walk over hot coals for my client. That’s about how you treat me. Is there a mutual respect? As opposed to a transactional relationship. I like to think I work WITH my clients, not FOR my clients. When we’ve met face to face that is so much easier.

4. Yes there will be journey time going to, and back from, your client. It doesn’t need to be wasted time. I find it is a great time to think, to plan, to write. I certainly don’t do my best thinking in my office in front of my PC. I do my best thinking when I give myself time and headspace – and that’s generally when I’m away from the office.

5. Please don’t get me wrong. There is of course a place for emails, but not in-place of face to face meetings.

“Price increases are a normal part of business”

So said the finance director of Unilever recently when interviewed about the disagreement between Tesco and Unilever. Unilever were asking Tesco for a 10% increase in price due to currency issues and increases in the price of raw materials.

Interestingly Unilever’s profit level is around 15% compared to Tesco at 1.8% (source: Evening Standard 13.10.16 p59)

If you are an agency working with Unilever you may want to drop into the conversation with your client that “Price increases are a normal part of business”