The Telephone versus Email
I get asked a lot about what I feel is more effective to reach a corporate partner, using the Telephone or Email?
When I started in sales, email really wasn’t an option like it is today. So I was taught to always rely on the phone to get in touch with someone and frankly I learned to use the phone as a very effective sales tool, setting up conference calls with interested partners and then selling the opportunity over the phone even to the point of closing the sale without a meeting or a formal presentation in person.
It is a fact that the first 14.5 million dollars I put together in sponsorship was actually done over the phone and from my home office without me leaving the house once to travel to a presentation. It was ALL done over the phone. Presentations were couriered, not emailed, and were then presented over the phone with all the parties on the line.
With the introduction of email, like everyone else, I have adapted to using email as part of my communications with all corporate partners. Most corporate executives prefer to communicate by email because it easier for them, it’s their communication of choice, especially with the prominence of PDA’s. It is definitely effective for someone that has already established a line of communication with a corporate contact, because you never know where they are going to be and almost 100% of corporate people carry PDA’s that receive email. In fact, “87% of corporate managers say that real-time internet communications technology plays a key role in supporting sales and marketing operations.” But here is the catch; I said email is the most effective way “once you have established communication”.
A lot of the time when you first go to reach out to a new contact, you don’t have their work email, so you have to rely on the phone. If you are fortunate enough to have their email, I would still not rely on this alone and here is why. It is too easy for a new contact to ignore your email…they don’t know who you are, so you aren’t high on the priority list of emails to read, you may even be considered spam and if they are like most corporate people I know they are barraged with emails everyday, in other words its easy to fall through the cracks.
While I would use email, I would RELY on the phone and leave Voicemail as well. Why? Because with voicemail they HAVE to listen to at least your voice and maybe the message and they don’t have they luxury of being able to just go ‘click’. You can also be a more effective pest with Voicemail than with email…So don’t throw out the phone just yet, email may be the most prominent form of communication, but when you first reach out, try the telephone…it still works!
Mitch