Work Better, Not Harder

Sometimes I take things for granted. For instance, while many have been adapting to working alone, I've been happy as a pig in sh*t. You might think this is because I've been working at home for 15 years, so I'm used to it. Sure, that's part of it. But... I don't always work alone even though I'm at home. A recent comment in MyRevenueRoom reminded me that working at home has never been lonely for me. And it's because of the telephone. One of my best friends lives in rural Saskatchewan. We used to work for the same company, me in Toronto and Danielle in Regina. Our 25-year friendship has always been based on phone calls. Now we both do marketing work from home, sometimes collaborating, and we continue to talk (sometimes for hours) almost every day. And we're not just chit-chatting (although there's some of that) - we work together as if we share an office. Danielle might say, "What do you think of this idea?" and I might say, "What if ...

Imagine this happened to you earlier today... You chatted on the phone for two hours with one of your favourite customers . You both laughed a lot and enjoyed catching up. It had been a while since you had a relaxed conversation with her. You're smiling as you hang up the phone. Then reality strikes. A quick check of the time and your to-do list confirms you've lost control of your day. Your smile fades. You aren't feeling as cheery as you did a few minutes before. Now you'll have to hustle and compromise the rest of the day. And that's not the worst impact. Your favourite customer is in exactly the same situation. She hung up smiling, too, but quickly realized the impact on her day. (I suspect this story may ring true for some of my customers.) Here are a couple of things I try to remember to do so a friendly chat doesn't go too far off track: Jot down on paper a short list of points to cover during the call. I can use it as a reminder to brin...

"Which is better?" I asked. "'I need to capitalize on the time I've invested in writing.' or 'I need to leverage the time I've invested in writing.'" Danielle said, "'I need people to read my stuff.'" Two lessons here, one obvious and one not so obvious. 1. Using plain language and simple words is critical - and often surprisingly difficult. But, when you use simple words in your marketing, you reduce the risk of something being misinterpreted. ( Tweet This! ) 2. Brainstorming by phone has a big advantage. I was looking at the sentences, hung up on the visual impact of the decision. How would the words look? Would they fit where I needed them to? When I read those two carefully crafted options out loud to Danielle on the phone, she immediately simplified the whole concept. Isn't brainstorming wonderful?! photo by michael pollak / Flickr Click to Tweet this Article

I'm a big fan of the detailed message, whether it is by phone or email. But, as Mary Jane Copps mentioned in her article  The Illusion of the Detailed Message , they aren’t intended to build relationships – they're intended to save time . From a customer service perspective, we want them to save time for the person we're calling. But, of course, they can also be more efficient for us. These are instances when a detailed phone message is perfect: You want to relay ALL of the relevant information so the other person doesn’t need to call you back. This is great for giving someone an update on a work project. You want to ask questions which may require some preparation to answer. This gives the other person time to think about or research their responses before calling you back. You're replying to a request for information and no discussion is necessary. An example that many of us are familiar with is when we need to make an appointment for a meeting. I’ve learne...

Over coffee at Starbucks last summer, Mary Jane Copps, The Phone Lady , and I were chatting about the benefits of using the phone versus email for business communication . We decided to take our debate to the public. In September, we announced that comedian Lianne Perry would be our MC for the live debate scheduled for November 5, 2014, at the Westin Hotel in Halifax. We launched a website, online votes started to tally, and ticket sales began. Mary Jane and I took the debate online with articles on our blogs. Mary Jane started with her blog post When You Say "Hmmmm" . " When reading an email, if at any point you go “Hmmm, I wonder what they mean by that?” ...pick up the phone!" ( Click to Tweet this! ) I continued the debate with 7 Tips for Communicating Details by eMail , one of the big benefits of email over the phone. Next I wrote about The Speed of eMail . "If you need to reach a lot of people fast and at the same time, email is definitely the medi...

Email is an ideal way to communicate details , such as meeting minutes, action lists, project updates, instructions, reference data, decisions, event info, checklists and much more. Sending previously prepared information is a snap - just attach, or copy and paste. When I started specializing in enewsletters, I quickly discovered that there are a lot of details to discuss and make decisions about. Some clients like communicating by phone and others by email. But for some of this detailed communication, email is definitely the best method regardless of preference. It allows me to standardize the process, provide checklists, track action items, explain complex ideas, show examples, and document decisions. Here are some tips for communicating detailed information by email: Strive for clarity. Be brief, but not to the point of leaving out relevant information.   Use point-form numbered or bullet lists. This makes it easy for your reader to mentally check things off, or to ...

The thing I remember most about getting email functionality at work (in 1990, I think) was that I could get rid of those 3-part memos. Some of you will remember them – usually they had ‘Memorandum’ across the top, and places to write your recipient’s name/department, your message, and their reply. They were 3 sheets with carbon paper in between - so you could keep a copy for follow-up and the recipient could write a note to return to you, keeping a copy for themselves. They even folded a certain way for interoffice mail. Yes, they were handwritten! I used the phone a lot more back then. When I wrote those 3-part memos, it was generally for two reasons: to communicate detailed info, and/or to have a record of decisions. When I think of the number of emails I get daily now, and visualize them as a stack of 3-part memos... well, it would be a big stack! Now we use email for a long list of other reasons, far beyond those two listed above. It has opened doors and provided oppo...