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Frustration with new-age communication being ignored *whinge*
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We used to have a lot of issues with emailing clients low rez spots for approval, including the day and time we have to hear back from them to make changes (if any) to meet their air date, and we’d hear nothing in return.
The counter this, we’ve taken to sending the spot via email or uploading it to our server and sending a link, then calling a few hours later to ensure the file went through and remind the client that if they don’t watch it and get back to us we’ll have to push their schedule back and their spot won’t run when it’s supposed to. Almost every time they stop what their doing and watch it while we’re on the phone with them. This works great for two reasons–we know they watched it, and the can tell us the changes immediately rather than type it. Or give us an approval over the phone.
I like email, but if something is time sensitive it’s a phone call every time. Plus I’ve found a client’s response may warrant more questions and it’s easier to just ask them those questions while on the phone rather than playing email tag all day.
Michael
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I’ll be working late. -
[Bob Zelin] “Let’s relate this to Creative Cow. A guy (many guys at many forums) asks a question like this “oh my God, nothing is working, I have to get this job out in 1 hour, can someone PLEASE help me” – and a barrage of responses are sent to him, everyone asking “ok, let me know if that worked” – or – “if it doesn’t work, tell me exactly what you see”. And you hear nothing back.”
What they really wanted was for someone — likely you, Bob — to take their private call and hold their hand on the phone and tell them exactly what to do.
It’s why when people call me for help, I point them to the forums and do not give them the answer on the phone.
I know leaders that do this and they get call after call and they spend hour upon hour doing it.
To quote Bob Zelin, I think that is too stupid for words.
Ron Lindeboom
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[David See] “It takes ten seconds and they know I have the info.”
This is a FUNDAMENTAL FLAW in your logic. You assume everyone works as you do or is as free in time as you are.
Me, I do email in the morning and at night. The rest of the day, I ignore it for the most part. If I didn’t, I’d get little done.
What to you is ten seconds, is to me a major disruption of my workflow (breaking up my day and destroying the focus and rhythm that I achieve when I am in a work groove) and if you worked with me, you’d either get used to morning or evening emails — or you wouldn’t.
But either way, I find the whole concept of ten second expectations almost laughable.
You need to understand that not everyone is waiting around for your emails.
Ron Lindeboom
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“Steve Kownacki wrote: you never want to look too available”
The one place I’d disagree with this is when a current or potential client calls wanting information about a quote or project. I’ll give you an example. I was getting quotes for renting a P+S Technik Lens adaptor and lenses for a project.
I called and/or emailed about 5 places to get quotes. I got 1 back within minutes with detailed information and exact answers to my questions along with a quote. I got another within 30 minutes with good but incomplete info and a cheaper quote. The other three took anywhere from 4 hours to 3 days to get back to me with either information or a quote.
The guy that responded first followed up later that day with a phone call to make sure I got the email and if the quote was what I needed.
Nobody else followed up. The first guy’s quote was the second most expensive of the 5. Guess who I rented from? The guy who responded first and with the best information and followed up on his response to make sure I had what I needed. He was about $300 more expensive than the next quote and almost $500 more than the lowest quote. But I KNEW I was going to get what I needed for the equipment to work because it was clear he knew what he was talking about. Some of the other people had never even heard of the camera we use (Panasonic SDX900), which is kind of scary. It requires a special plate to attach the P+S Technik adaptor. Some of the rental houses didn’t know what I was talking about when I mentioned it.
So long story short…I rented from the place that was the most responsive and most eager to do business with me. It was a good lesson to me to respond quickly when clients email or call about a quote or project. If I wait 2, 3, 5 days…I’m probably going to lose the project. People want to cross stuff off their list. Wait 3 days to respond to a client, you’ll get crossed off that list too.
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com -
And a little postscript thought on my reply to Bob Zelin:
As you point out, Bob, when people get answers and do not reply and do not let you know what worked or didn’t — or even say thanks in the slightest — I don’t bother with them next time. It’s called “crapping in your own nest.”
When you do that, nobody wants to hang around.
;o)
Sadly, it is that Human Nature Thingie™ again.
Have fun, Bob.
Ron Lindeboom
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[Ron Lindeboom] “I don’t bother with them next time”
I heartily agree with Ron about that one.
There is one semi-frequent COW poster in particular that poses questions that I often, if not always, have a answer, solution, or at least a suggestion for. It just seems he’s often dealing with problems or challenges that I myself have had to tackle before.
Know what though? I never respond to his posts any more.
It might be petty, but all my answers in the past (and everyone else’s) never ever garnered any kind of reply whatsoever… never a “Thanks,” never a “I’ll try that,” or even a “That won’t work because…”
He even sent me a question in a direct email once, which I took time to come up with a solution for him. I guess he got my reply. I don’t know.
I don’t need to be thanked and I don’t do what I do for any kind of praise… but I think everyone appreciates at least some acknowledgment of the effort, if only to let us know that our answers weren’t only to hear the sound of our own typing.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Email and texting are not really instant forms of communication. The essence of them is the recipient can reply at their leisure. Call it laziness, rudeness, mulling it over, delaying til a better time, jerking you around – the ball is in the recipient’s court and you must wait for an answer. If you need instant then a phone call is the answer.
I suspect there’s a generational divide here. You find phone calls uncomfortable, but texting and emails are natural. I find phone calls direct, warm and immediate.
Some of your clients seem to respond better to phone calls than other forms of communication. Wouldn’t it be a better idea to work with their work flow, rather than expecting them to work with yours?
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Read all this with great interest.
Some email systems let you set a control to get back a reciept that something was read. But typically both ends of the communication need to be using the same email program for that, I think, and many people are now using web-based email instead of a dedicated email program. Be careful setting read-receipts and “urgent” priority flags; don’t use it indescriminately on low-priority messages, or it makes you seem stalkerish or too self-important.
I adore email correspondence because of the paper trail it leaves and the fact it reduces my note taking requirements somewhat. But I too have people that will only respond to the first question of three, so you train yourself to send three emails, each asking just one question, with those types.
Some folks check their inbox like their pleasure center was connected to the refresh button. In some ways, I am like that. But I check the inbox in between times when I’m physically busy; right now I’m waiting on a render or dub to finish, so I can wade thru some things and be, I feel, more productive and responsive that if I only looked at emails at set hours.
I knew some folks that only looked at emails before nine and after four o’clock; they were always a day or two behind the rest of the world, it seemed – treating email like it was physical mail. They have aright, I just think that that is an old-fashioned way of looking at it. Really, these days it’s more like voice mail and the telephone but asynchronous.
We knew a guy (this was when email was very new) that wrote a three-page letter on the email system his first week using it and then he erased the mail accidentally without knowing how to recover it, before sending. He was really old-fashioned, wedded to his typwriter. After that one mistake, he insisted on hand-typing everything on his typewriter, then handing the sheet to a secrertary to transacribe intot he email system. Then he’d demand a hard copy print-out of the draft email to correct by hand before he’d authorize the secretary to send it. We use to joke that his CRT screen had white-out marks all over it, and we were not far off.
I love that I can hold a reply until I’ve looked something up: this is smoother than putting someone on hold or having to break the conversation and call back later. Some people just like voice better, I like text better. I get one extra chance to edit myself in text, instead of projecting with my mouth what all the voices in my head are trying to tell me. 🙂
I like that the text I send is unambiguous and the message generally complete. I feel this reduces the chance of a misunderstanding by the client, becasue I can point to where their issue was answered previously.
One other idea: if this person has a cultural problem or psychological issue with email, see what happens if you send a FAX instead. For some reason, certain people will treat a FAX like the Western Union Boy has just ridden up to hand-deliver a telegram. You youngun’s may not remember this, but it used to be that at weddings and other Big Events, somebody would stand up and read aloud tot he group all the telegrams sent to the event – like they were Proclamations from the Governor.
See, over time, we change how we weight the value of various media.
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David,
If you mis-read this you’re going to find the tone harsh.
It’s NOT supposed to be. I’d like it to be more like a good exercise at a high level customer service seminar you’ve paid a lot of hard earned dollars to attend – and the tone of the presenter is ONLY interested in revealing something that might help you grow your business further and bring you more success….
That said…
Look back at your post. Count the number of first person pronouns. Notice how your focus is nearly relentlessly “I”, “my”, “me”, “we”, “our”, “us.” I score it 11 of those to 1 single use of “your.”
I’m going to argue that unless you notice and change this. You’re going to VASTLY limit your ability to attract quality customers and succeed in the long run.
Business does not grow when the propriator constantly takes care of his or her OWN needs. It grows once they’ve learned to concentrate on satisfying the needs of their others.
Food for thought from someone who, early in his own career – was as “I” centric as any other young man. But learned better over time.
Good luck.
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No I don’t find it harsh, I know ehere you are coming from, but I was indeed talking about “our” or “my” experiences – bit hard not to write that way when you are talking about something that affects me/us, personally.
I am completely aware that others have commitments. What I hate is people REGULARLY refusing to respond to direct questions.
I have a friend who does it ALL the time. He rarely responds to DIRECT questions via email or SMS. And he is not a busy man by any shake of the stick. He just does not feel it necessary to answer my questions, which peeves me no end, especially when we are trying to get productions completed between us.
I am not really saying people are WRONG, I just find it annoying and a tad on the disrespectful side, seeing as I/we/anyone else has taken the time to actually ASK the question.
Again, I was talking about my PERSONAL experiences.
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