Improve Online Communications and Improve Productivity

Last Year I wrote an article on Better Email Management, prompted by the number of needless emails filling up my inbox every morning. I found that I spent 2 hours in the morning, 2 hours in the afternoon, and 3 hours in the evening sending and responding to emails. Already putting in 14-18 hours a day with clients and corporate business, the additional 7 hours was very counter productive and made me irritable (okay, more irritable than usual).

How many times on top of emails, have you received IM’s popping up all the time, with clients getting irritated if you didn’t have your settings show up that you were idle on the computer, or IM’s popping up while you were in the middle of sales reports, or day to day paper work, and frustration setting in with the person sending them, because they could see you were typing, yet didn’t respond to their IM. We’ve all become a bit too accessible, and yet we don’t ever want to turn our backs on our clients. That’s where the conundrum comes into play.

Many of us have experiences like this every day, and some are still caught up in the hectic technologically advanced world within which we live. Since writing my original article on better email management, I bought a new computer, and did not even bother installing IM software. Immediately I was more productive and saving an additional 2 hrs a day (and a lot of frustration) on needless communication. Working 9 less hours a day resulted in an increase of revenue through focusing my time on sales and super servicing clients.

All of us in sales need to remember that online communication is to make our lives easier and more productive; this is not to replace phone or face to face contact, rather to complement it when multi-tasking. I re-focused on what was important: super servicing clients which equated to increased revenue for the company vs. disorganized online communication in an already hectic world. Re-focusing myself on why we have these wonderful tools of technology, I now go to bed with less than 50 emails in my inbox and no more than 100 emails when I wake up the next morning. My goal is to send out emails I need responses to the evening before, and reply to emails, and/or update my client files with information received the following morning. This allows me to have all of my emails sorted and actions taken before I finish my second pot of coffee and start on conference calls at 8am est. time the following morning.

Now that we are starting off a new year I would like to share with you a revised list of tips to better improve your online communication; saving hours a day and hours of frustration with emails. If you feel that you will miss something without your Instant Messenger (which I didn’t), follow these tips, and watch your time free up, allowing you to super service your clients equating to increased revenue and improved online communication.

Tips for Better Email Management:

1. Read the emails you received completely before writing your reply. Sometimes while multi-tasking, we skim the email, missing the important details.
   
   
2. Always include contact information at the end of your email. Even if you communicate with the person sending the email all the time, this makes phone and mail follow up easier, along with sharing your contact information with parties being brought into the loop on your project, company, and/or services. In addition if you like referrals (as most of us do), think of how simple it will be for them to pass along your info to a new customer, or contact.
   
3. Never assume when sharing information or offering advice. It's a little arrogant to assume that no one else knows what you know. Always tack on a friendly intro such as: "Maybe you already know this but…" If they haven't, they can say, "No... But thanks for the new ideas!" If they have, they can respond with an enthusiastic, "Yes I have, and I love it!"
   
4. Reply to colleagues when they send you an important message. Example: "Thanks for sending the proposal. I’ll review it tonight and get back to you by tomorrow evening at the latest." We are all busy, don't leave anyone hanging indefinitely. With cyberspace the way it is, they cannot assume that you received the email.
   
   
5. Include the part of the original email you are replying to. With hundreds of emails flying IN and OUT of your computer every hour of every day, and multitasking on clients in different areas of business, a response of  "Yes, Okay with Me”, is useless, a waste of time, and cannot be used in a paper trail of authorizations for orders, or dollars cleared by a client or co-worker.
   
6. Maximize the Use of Your subject line. The subject line is there for a reason. Be consistent on when speaking on a particular topic, or with a particular client. This will allow you to sort your emails later on for an easier recall of information.
   
7. Know when to end the communication. You never want to pester a client, or co-worker, with one more “Thank You”. If all relevant points have been made, the communication is ending. If they say, "OK, thanks”, there is no need to reply, again.

Tips for Better Instant Message Management:

1. Limit Your Time IM’ing. If there is a lack of communication, or the IM session lasts more than a couple of minutes, pick up the phone and call the other party, or send a detailed email on actions needed.
   
   
2. Never communicate confidential or sensitive information through IM.  IM is better suited to quick information about project status, meeting times, a person's whereabouts, or urgent approvals.

3. Organize your Buddy List appropriately.  Keep your business contacts separate from family and friends. This lowers the margin of error for IM’ing to the wrong individual.

4. Remember that IM’s can be saved, or pasted into emails. IM’s are great for letting you make bold statements you would never say in person or over the phone. It is a false shield of security because the words may be off of your computer screen; however the recipient can copy and paste the entire chat in an email, or in word... Some IM services allow you to archive entire messages.

5. Never say anything In an IM that you would not say in person. This builds onto “IM’s can be saved.”  You may be in a different mind set a few weeks later when you are face to face with a co-worker, or client, who has a printed IM that was not written in the kindest words. Always count to 1,000 before sending an IM you may regret later.

Refocus your communication habits and strive to become as efficient as possible. Better communication begins with better organization.