Email or Phone call?

Is our society losing sight of effective communication due to the global domination of electronic communication? I am referring to the decision between making that good old phone call vs. sending out an e-mail or text. A telephone call is live instant communication between two parties, through a telephone network using voice. An email is written communication between two parties, sent and received instantly. Therefore, the main difference between a call and an email is voice vs. text.

With the increased use and legal enforcement of emailing in the professional world, it unequivocally has many advantages that we will discuss next. Email has without a doubt overshadowed the option for a phone call, especially in many cases even amongst the youth. A British study conducted by independent media regulator Ofcom found that among 16- to 24-year-olds, phone calls are being superseded by texts or other e-messages. Per the research, 96 percent use some form of text-based communication -- either though social networks (73 percent) or through traditional texting (90 percent) -- on a daily basis. By comparison, only 67 percent of that age group talks on the phone daily. Overall, total time spent on the phone declined 5 percent for Britons of all ages, the first such drop since the 1990s, according to The Guardian.

Advantages of email:

1.     An email is cost free, instant and global. One can send an email anywhere in the world at any time of the day and not pay a penny.

2.     The recipient usually receives this email instantly, additionally enabling both parties to document their communication and keeping a detailed track of the entire communication process.

3.     An email is also wonderful for those who get stuck with words over the phone, as it allows them to plan what they will be writing and use the right vocabulary to express their needs or concerns.

The difference between an email and a text message is the formality of their nature. An email is technically more formal and should be written with the correct punctuation and grammar, as one would with a handwritten letter. A text message usually gives margin for being informal and brief.

According to research firm The Radicati Group, Inc., in 2013 there were:
+ 929 million business email accounts
+ 507 billion emails sent per day
+ An average of 78 emails received and 37 sent per user, per day. These figures show a lot of emails being exchanged, but how productive are we really being with this exchange?

There is a specific time and situation one should communicate via email or text. The problem we are seeing today is this confusion in the decision of which technology to use, from the myriad offered to us.

I will give you an example. Most of us own a smart phone and have enabled on this our texting applications, email accounts, voice enabled calls and of course we also have our social media accounts embedded in mobile format. Let me give you some examples of the misuse of these methods. I have missed my lunch appointment because I was notified of the change in venue through the Facebook messenger chat only an hour before my lunch meeting, been wished on my birthday on an Instagram picture and seen it three days later, asked to meet someone for a professional meeting via text and accidently deleted the text message so I no longer had the details, then also received an email to schedule a meeting which ended up being a thread of up to eight messages to decide which time mutually suits us both. Can you see the irregular and inappropriate use of these methods of communication in some of them?

Have you noticed there is not ONE phone call made? Wouldn’t you agree that many of the above stated incidents could have been remedied by that one quick phone call?

 The underlying problem we face today is simply lack of technological education to understand when it is appropriate to use a certain method and added to that this incredible fear for the telephone. We all have smart phones to make our lives smarter, but sadly the function we least use on our “smart” phones is actually the voice call. How smart are we really being?

I have described the advantages of using e-mail and also the alternatives to e-mail that all belong to the umbrella called social media. All these options have a common factor; they do not include voice and are simply visual text.

Let’s address the advantages of a phone call or if you prefer to be more modern: Skype, Viber and the likes.

1.     The traditional phone call can be expensive, but the alternatives have enabled a call to be practically cost free, especially thanks to Internet calls.

2.     A phone call enables you to negotiate more freely, especially in the business world.

3.     Feedback in a phone call is quicker and this obviously saves time (endless email threads).

4.     A phone call can actually be more casual and break the ice between two business parties, who perhaps via email have a more formal barrier.

5.     In a phone call you can gauge the tone of the receiving end and monitor your questions more carefully, as well as ask new questions that could stem from the current conversation.

Now obviously the situation none of us like is that of a cold call and luckily the email has salvaged us from the trauma which otherwise makes us sweat and stress for obvious reasons. It can be hard to approach someone for the first time through a phone call.

Imagine if their accent is hard for you to understand, they come across cold because that’s just how they are on the phone, their name is ambiguous and you actually cannot tell if it’s a man or woman you will be calling (yes this has happened to me). In a nutshell, a cold call is the worst-case scenario for anyone in the professional world, unless you receive specific training for this and it forms part of your job description.

However, let’s say you meet a new potential customer at a trade fair and have to follow up business with them. It is statistically proven that a formal re introduction email followed by a phone call shortly after has higher positive results than an email with a reply in return (that may take longer as we do not know how long one takes to reply to their emails). Remember you already “sort of” know your customer and can tailor your call far more effectively than write it on email.

I was recently in a situation where I was approaching several institutions for a project, and effectively I was the one in “need” of help. My first approach was actually a cold call where I aimed to get the name of a specific person I was supposed to email. This is very important, as you can address your email to a person and not just an email address. After my email I waited a few days, after which if there was no reply from the receiving end, I picked up the phone and made that cold call or as I call it warm call. I had already sent out the information on my project, so my introduction was formally done. This warm call was my follow up, and I preferred to a follow up email.

The results were outstanding! I learnt that a few of these people had actually not received the email and this was great since I had the opportunity to pitch to them over the phone and even get a personal appointment with them, I learnt that my voice convinced them about the project, which words through an email could not do, so persistence can be effective vocally. Finally, I learnt that if there was a rejection towards my project proposal, it was due to circumstances nothing to do with my actual idea, but simply bad timing with the institution. The latter comforts you, as you realise rejection must not be taken personally.

When we hear an advert on the radio and when we are sold the same product through an email, what usually remains in your memory more? The element of voice is so important to grab someone’s attention and although it is far more expensive to advertise on the radio, a phone call these days is pretty much free.

When one types they are not processing words, rather distributing information. However, when you are talking you are aware of your tone and can use vocabulary to add spark to your conversation. An email extinguishes the linguistic skill of adding colour to your language.

Although I have dissected the email to it’s last cell, I do have to stress the importance of this form of communication as a starting point of communication and how imperative it is to document data, especially on a legal level. Nevertheless, it serves more importantly as that: a paperless, inexpensive and efficient method of data documentation.

Human verbal negotiation has always shown positive results in almost all fields of the professional world, not to mention in our personal and social lives. I have addressed the excessive use of social media in one of my previous articles; http://goldieuttamchandani.blogspot.com.es/2013/06/social-media-addicted-or-not.html#.UyDJxaVicds but the more serious problem lies in the misuse and inappropriate application of these methods for basic communication.

A phone call is has been addressed as old fashioned and traditional compared to an email, but the truth is it’s basically a phone call and cannot be replaced by anything, especially not an email. Let’s try to say “call me on my phone” rather than “text me on my phone”, and perhaps a call can make that sexy comeback again.