Emails Can Kill Your Business…

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Before you go "what the heck is this guy talking about", let me explain...

Now, I'm not about to suggest that you proclaim to the world that email sucks...

Nope, nothing of that sort.

What I want to talk about is not on whether email is effective as a marketing/business tool (it is!), but the way email is being used!

How is it so? Emails are great for presenting a pitch, passing complements as well as touching on positive messages. That's fine.

It's different when you send emails to someone to communicate doubts and debate/argue. It's bad. Very bad...

Before I move further, I want to touch a bit on the subject of human psychology first.

In an offline sales pitch, you like to excite the senses of both sight and sound of your prospect.

That's why you speak when you pitch. And you also show them documents, powerpoint presentation, video and so on when you want to strengthen your case.

When you speak...it appeals to their emotion...and when they can see...it appeals to their logic.

Moving back to emails..., this time round, the voice element is gone. Only the words are there. When a person reads something, he tends to take it more seriously. Because, as the saying goes, seeing is believing!

When you send an email to give a different view point, hostility may sometimes result. Even when it may not be your intention to engage in an argument.

The other side reading the email, believes what he reads, and tend to take it in another light - often a more negative one. And when he engage in a lengthy defending reply back, that is when the shit starts.

Both sides get emotional, and written volleys are exchanged back and forth. And the war escalates...

I hope you know what I'm trying to get through to you.

Use emails for compliments or to communicate messages of a positive (or neutral) nature.

But DON'T use it for confrontation or argument. If you have to, keep the email as short as you can. And then meet up or call to settle the matter.

Often, business deals are lost, and relationships are broken, when people just insist on using emails to settle an issue. A face-to-face talk could have been so much more effective in dealing with such situations.

What do you think? Ever got into trouble over an email? Let me know. I'm all ears.

All Success,

Popularity: 20% [?]

Nice article. Email is very sensitive and could bring disaster if not handled properly. I think customers need to know what they are doing so for that we need to know what they are thinking and what we have to offer them. Thats why I recommend a blog, forums to get more interactions going between seller and buyers. At least this could bring some good reations.

Thanks for your good article. :)

Chris

Chris:

Yep, blogs are great for personalization. And someone can feel that there is a real person behind the website.

Email is always a good communication tool. But we must know how to use it right - to our advantage.

Jag

Your so right, I dont like using email and would much rather speak on the phone. We do most of are businees over the internet, we only meet the client when the deal is going ahead and we need paperwork signing. Email has revolutionised the way people do business.

So many things can be misunderstoon in email. I learned to be careful as I regularly communicate via email.

Thanks,

@ Mortgage Advisors & Bonnie:

Yes, misunderstandings tend to happen because people take what they read as face value. Have to be really careful how you word your email.

Jag

thanks for sharing

emails always creates misunderstanding. because people read and judge base on what they think but cant clarify with the sender on the spot. they actually have to await a reply and this could create a huge arguement

I agree with you. I like emails a lot, and I write into emails only those things I would say personally too, but most of the people does not feel the weight of the written word. I just got highly embarrassed because of a CEO who called a client with very bad words in a text message.

Great article.Yes emails can be disaster sometime.But i like to send and receive emails.I think one should maintain it nice way.Anyways thanks for the post.

Yes emails can be disaster sometime.I am agree with you.

Well emails do have lots of use. All the newsletter is a good way for marketing. Yet for it to use as spam that is not acceptable. Well everything has its positive and negative side.

Good point, email are truly time-consuming, but we all need them to do business (-:

I agree too that having a communication through email especially when it deals to business sales is time consuming. But in the online business world, sending emails means a lot. So what’s important is that we have to make our email comprehensive and concise.

Hi all,

Just an important thing to clarify. Emails are important.

Email as a marketing tool works. Never in doubt.

The post I’m talking about is more about email on a person to person basis.

Don’t use it for debate or to pass message of negative nature. A face to face or a call will be better. Less mis understandings are less likely to occur.

Based on personal experience, deals can be lost just because of seemingly trivial things like this over email.

Jag

Hi guys,
I always use to send e-mail for my clients to say about our service. E-mail plays a vital role in online business, all are aware of this I know.
As our friend said we should use this only for a good thing otherwise it will be a great disaster.

Thanks for sharing this with us…

As such all inventions have their own pros and cons.Its true email is being misused. Sometimes its very irritating.One can always check mails at their convenience,but at times it becomes annoying when you receive spam emails

Hi jag,
Sure I too accept that e-mails will cause disaster sometimes.
We should be well prepared to face this things. My kind advice is to use spam filter.

Thanks for your article…

We have never tried to use e-mails as marketing tools. Something to think about.

Don’t use it for debate or to pass message of negative nature. A face to face or a call will be better. Less mis understandings are less likely to occur.

Sometimes its very irritating.One can always check mails at their convenience,but at times it becomes annoying when you receive spam emails

The post on “email “kills your businesss is too goood it will bring limelight to the “customers about their habit”

this is true… its amazing what a change in voice tone can avail you… and its even more important to be able to read body language and other signs that u cant see through an email.
-Jake

Emails can also hurt your productivity. I believe they should be checked twice a day and that’s it. Otherwise you lose time checking them every hour or worse as they come if you have an email alert, then get sidetracked and bam you miss your goals for the day.

hm. You are right. And the most pathetic thing is many of us don’t think of it.

Excellent post which describes the importants of email. even though its a faster way of approaching our customers in online its better to read it before sending the mail to our customers to avoid some general communication problems.

Hi, I’m new to this website. Very good points you make about using email. It is a very effective tool to build relationships from other mediums such as a blog post or even a face-to-face meeting, but it could also destroy your business if abused. You’re right when you say “seeing is believing” but even more important is reading is understanding. When writing an email response especially to a client or customer we should always think of how we are best serving their needs.

Ken