Email – Are you getting through?

It seems electronic communications are dying out, even to the point of plain not happening. This is definitely having an impact on and making it harder to do business.

Recently I was sitting in on a sales and marketing training webinar and the speaker was making quite a to-do about how people these days are not responding when you are trying to contact and connect with them.

He pointed out that a large number of emails get delivered to the junk mail basket and are never seen and over 60% of emails that make it through are either totally ignored or just not responded to.

Most people are choosing not to answer their phones, preferring to let your call to go to their answering service, where they will listen to your message and decide if they want to respond or not – then they might ring you back or text you.

He then pointed out that most preferred to simply text and leave it at that. (Texting a longer message is cumbersome and lacks any emotional overtones that could cause your message to be misconstrued).

He was teaching that today you need to skip straight to the text, if you want to make contact, especially as at the moment 95% of people almost immediately respond to a text message. But I wonder how long this will last, especially as the quantity increases as more turn to texting instead of other means of communicating.

Everyone used to and they still do—open their mail. Nearly everyone used to answer their phone and answer their email and before email no one could ignore a fax.  So where to from here?

Why don’t we improve the situation and make the most of the action most people still engage in, and that is to go to their letterbox and open their mail. (And what’s more, today they are actually looking forward to and enjoying the experience.)

When they do, you still need to grab their attention and make an impact, so you don’t want just a boring letter, or even an envelope that looks like it could be a bill, nor do you want an envelope without a real stamp on it.  Why not take advantage of the latest technology like Send Out Cards utilizes and send them a full colour, personalised greeting card, conveying your message and sentiments. Best of all, you can get your customised and individualised card into someone’s letterbox for under $2.00, including the stamp! Even if it’s just a one-off! 

Digital electronic communication has held centre stage and while it may be dirt cheap, it has had its day.

The past is returning to the future, the letterbox is reclaiming its role as the entry point into the hearts and minds of our existing and potential customers. How long is it going to be before you start using it and getting your message through?