I have been slightly frustrated lately, I wonder if I'm alone. It starts when someone starts the following sentence: “I actually don’t use email anymore…”.
Now, let’s see how that usually ends: “I actually don’t use email anymore… I prefer if we connect by [insert name]”. That name can be anything from Slack to Whatsapp, Messenger, LinkedIn, Telegram, Skype… Honestly, it’s hard to keep up with what the favourite channel for everybody is. I find myself in situations unsure how to reach specific people and adjust to their particular needs.
“But then just call me”. Yes, sure. I’ve worked in sales for many years so I have no problem with speaking over the phone. Now, are we talking GSM call? Facetime? Whatsapp? Sure, I will try one -or all if needed- but here’s the thing: a voice call leaves no track record. And yes, that’s another challenge. After our chat, where can I send you a proper follow up, brief, proposal…? Will whatever channel you are thinking of right now be: suitable for keeping a thread? suitable if third parties have to be involved during the process? is it a platform that everybody is fully familiar with? is it easy to search within the thread?
On top of that, even if we establish said track record in, for instance, Facebook Messenger, you are suddenly overlapping with my personal use of SoMe. You might, with your best intention, write me something on a Saturday afternoon (ie: “here’s the agenda for Monday’s meeting”) and I might actually see it that same evening while checking my ‘Spanish-speaking writers in Finland group’ (yes, it’s a quiet one). The channels where personal and professional overlap should either give priority to the personal side of things or, at the very least, be restricted to some schedules. However, I don’t want to have to manually mute contacts for the night each evening in Whatsapp, I don’t want either to shut down all notifications from Telegram.
I still think email is a really simple and valuable channel. It is friendly for very short or long content, accepts attachments and can be directed to whichever domain you choose allowing you to draw a clear line between personal and work. For instance, I use the Gmail app 24/7 but only check the all-email client during working hours.
I believe most people who say they don’t “use email anymore” might, to some extent, be punishing a channel instead of fixing a process: they don’t know how to manage their email (sorry!), they have way too much workload, they still think of emails ‘must be over 100 characters messages’, or other possible causes. Quick example: some people think that email is a “waste of time” but accept to be in chat channels where 90% of the talk is noise.
As an entrepreneur you can reach me in many, oh so many ways -all the aforementioned and more: Zoom, Go-To-Meeting, Twitter, Instagram…- but already during our first discussions I will try to establish a way for us to stay in touch that feels fair, efficient and friendly. It might or might not be email but whatever we choose will make sense for both parties and the goals we are going to reach together.
Finally, for those shaking their heads and thinking “you are an entrepreneur, you should be available 24/7”: No, I should not, I must not and I won’t. But that’s a discussion for another day.
[Originally published on Fb page]