Are You A Coward? I Was

Over the last month, I have come to hate emails and answerphones; not because I get 100 emails every day but because emails and answerphones are fast becoming the tool of the coward. At Beyond Philosophy we worked with a client a while ago whose account managers and sales teams never used to speak to anyone! They just used to send emails. If the customer called in they were greeted by answerphones which were kept on all day. You see the sales teams were all busy doing "real" work. The customers were just interrupting them. Surely this must be the height of "inside out" behaviour.

But why do people do this?

Primarily, it is because we all feel we can say things in emails that we would never say face to face. In my experience this never works how people would expect. No matter how hard you try, you think you have written one thing and the person reads something else. Before you know it you have lost a customer or lost a friend. We seem to forget that that all important 'relationship' with the customer is built on human contact, not emails!

One example springs to mind a few years ago when I worked in a multinational organisation and was involved in a large internal project. Things were not going well. I decided to send a "broadside" to the party who were driving me nuts! I took great delight in constructing the email. It was actually quite therapeutic. I worked on it to get the right message across so they would absolutely read between the lines and understand what I thought. I pressed the button and off into the ether it went. I remember thinking, 'Great I have told them what I think'. COWARD! How stupid I was, how naive, how self-righteous I was, and how wrong I was!

I lived to regret it. The email caused a big argument. I had said things that were misinterpreted despite my best attempts to be clear. I ended up upsetting a lot of people. I ended up regretting sending it. I was wrong. Since that day I now have adopted a few rules with emails that I would like to share with you.

1. Insist that all calls are answered by people and answer phones are banned other than outside office or opening hours.

2. Never reply to an email when you are emotionally charged. DO NOT type a reply and press the send button, until you have had a cooling off period. Put it in your "Draft" emails and look at it the next day. I always end up changing mine.

3. When you think "Shall I talk to them or shall I send them an email? It is at that moment when that little voice in your heads says; "No, just send them an email that'll be simpler, you don't want to talk to them it may be embarrassing?.." That is exactly the time I know I MUST talk to them. So pick up the phone and talk! It's never as bad as you expect and people always appreciate it.

4. Finally a plea. When anyone sends you an email, please reply. Don't just ignore it. Reply even to say "GO AWAY". I find it amazing that you can send an email to someone and they don't even have the courtesy of replying. What's your thought? If you have a view, drop me a line!

Colin Shaw Founding Partner, Beyond Philosophy © Beyond Philosophy 2004 - Ref. QR

Colin Shaw is the Founding Partner of Beyond Philosophy and guru of the Customer Experience Management. He has also produced two most successful books on customer experience which are now available in market. His first book, Building Great Customer Experiences sold out within just eight weeks, is on a third reprint and available in paperback.

Colin's second book, Revolutionize Your Customer Experience released in September 2004 and considered as Bible in Customer managment business world.

Colin has enjoyed over 20 years of experience working in blue chip companies, including Mars Ltd., Rank Xerox and BT. Colin's final position was Director of Customer Experience for one of the world's largest global companies. In his career, he has held senior positions in a number of different functional areas including Sales, Marketing, Customer Service and Training.

Ask Colin A Question

View what Colin is saying

---

How To Handle Customer Billing Snafus

Q: I just discovered that for the past six months... Read More

Post Office, Incredible Lady Postmaster

There are two Post Offices that I routinely visit. One... Read More

Make Sure You Get The Customer Perspective

Businesses that fail, often forget to seek out the customer... Read More

We Sell For Less and Our Stores Are a Mess!

What kind of image do you present when marketing your... Read More

The Great American Customer Service Unawareness Campaign

Q: I'm so sick of you so-called business experts always... Read More

How to Provide Instant Customer Service

Customer service is an essential component of any business. Clearly,... Read More

Customer Service Tips for Mail Order Businesses

Can we be too good to our customers?... Read More

Writing The Book On Great Customer Service

Q: One of the big chain bookstores recently opened up... Read More

It?s Customer Service Stupid: Delivering Customer Service Training That Sticks

"Society is always taken by surprise at any new example... Read More

How to Walk the Floor and Talk to Customers

This may seem a strange topic to introduce. Yet, it... Read More

Small Business Customer Service Can Work Against You

Is the special treatment you designed specifically to keep customers... Read More

I Wont Tell My Lawyer but I Will Tell You

A general counsel of a large international consulting firm told... Read More

Whats Love Got To Do With It?

Customer Loyalty, we all want it. Don't we?Some people say... Read More

Stellar Customer Service in 10 Simple Steps

If you're like me, you've had plenty of experience with... Read More

Customer Service: Everyone is Fighting Their Own Personal Battles

Relationships... Money... Health..The Past...Failure..Mental and Spiritual Battles..Time Constraints...Professional pressures..At any... Read More

Modern Call Center Solutions - Keeping in Touch is the Key

Call center solutions solve a range of age-old problems. As... Read More

5 Golden Online/Offline Business Rules To LIVE Or DIE By

Whether online or off, if you plan on running or... Read More

Are You A Coward? I Was

Over the last month, I have come to hate emails... Read More

Turning Customer Mistakes Into Raving Fans

When you make a mistake with a customer, should you... Read More

CRM = Customers (dont) Really Matter

CRM was supposed to bring companies closer to their clients.... Read More

Listening: The Foundation of Communication

Listening is the #1 communication skill for leadership, selling, customer... Read More

What Every Employee Should Know About How to Win the Loyalty of Customers

Dr. Michael LeBoeuf, in his cassette album entitled, Win... Read More

Saying Thank You to Your Clients

"Thanking your customers" - Why you should do it and... Read More

What Exactly is Customer Relationship Management?

The defintion of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) that I favor... Read More

Automating Your Help Desk Workflow

Do you know you can open, answer, close and report... Read More