We're only human

If you're like me over the last year or two you have invested a tremendous amount of time and possibly money setting up, tweaking and refining your social media presence.  I held off as long as I could before I created a Facebook page for my personal use and one for my company.  Twitter account?  Check.  Google Plus? Check.  Linkedin profile?  Check. 

I am not here to say that I do not believe in Social Media.  Indeed, it is changing the way we work, connect, buy and research new information.  Heck, I might have even made a little money along the way by reaping the benefits of my efforts.  I know some are making fortunes by doing so - those who I believe have a tremendous amount of time or a very large team of people to devote a full-time effort.  What about for the rest of us?

If you're like me with more than a full-time job, a family and a few interests outside of business you probably don't have the time to devote to gaining 1,000+ friends on Facebook or 500+ connections on Linkedin, etc.  Again, I really do see the value in Social Media but there is also value in getting other things done that come across my path each day and until my company gets big enough to hire a Social Media and Marketing department I guess I'll have to go on being a part-time Social Media participant.  So what's my point?

Recently, I have made a conscious effort to do something a little out of the ordinary.  Rather than sitting at my desk emailing, Tweeting, posting or updating, I'm using the telephone!  I hear the collective gasp of all of you.  Guess what?  I am getting great results using the phone!  Why? Because I think so few people are using it today to communicate.  Email is the new voice mail.  If you are emailing customers and prospects hoping to earn new or more business, good luck to you.  You know what I've found?  People that used to be difficult if not impossible to reach by phone are not only now returning messages, they are actually (gasp) answering their phones!  You know what else I'm finding?  Human interaction beats electronic interaction hands down.

Now listen, I am all for turning a cold call in to a warm call or giving a customer a head's up on an upcoming call or idea you want to pitch to them via email or other messaging service but I am telling you there are numerous advantages to connecting via the phone.  Just to mention a few:

• No wait time wondering if your email has been opened or read
• Immediate answers so you can get on with other activities and not have to go back and figure out who you need to follow up with (again).
• Set follow up dates to move the ideas, sales, negotiations forward.  Which leads to less time trying to chase down a potential deal a second time.
• Set up a follow up message that will get answered.  You can let them know how you will follow up with them so that they can be looking for your Tweet, Message or Email.

Talk about adding more time to your day!  Sure, you can spend a lot of time Social Networking but with a whole lot less time and a lot more immediate results you can be much more efficient and effective using the phone.  Try it yourself.  I bet the people you most want to connect with are longing for a little human interaction.