A verbal interaction or a written testimony: What do you think will engage your customer?
When it comes to business or sales communication with your client or potential client, it is extremely important to choose the right medium.
There are no laws divided regarding what form of communication you should use in different situations.
The lines are flexible and blurred on this topic which makes it hard for a new employee or salesperson in your firm to convert the clients.
Whether to use call or email to communicate with a client, should be determined based on a lot of factors.
But it's easy! Ask these questions.
As per my research, I have found out these factors, considering which a salesperson can decide when to use what.
1. Reason for Communication
2. Time of Communication
3. Subject of Communication
4. Stage of Communication
5. Previous Experience
I will elaborate these points to get a clear picture of what I exactly mean.
Reason for Communication
The question is ‘Why’?
The reason for communication is extremely important while making a business or sales call to a client or anyone else.
If you are communicating to pitch a product or service, setting up a meeting or asking for feedback makes a big difference in choosing your mode of communication. The purpose of communication determines whether a call would be more effective or an email.
Generally, emails are used for simple communication whether only one-time information is to be shared like advertising a product, asking for feedback or sharing a referral code.
Phone calls are better suited to set up a meeting or share information that will consist of a lot of complex information.
Using emails or phone calls as per the purpose can significantly affect the success of your endeavour.
Time of Communication
The question is ‘When’?
Time of communication is a huge factor determining whether your efforts will be effective. This factor is the most significant while making a sales call.
In order to convert your potential clients into permanent customers, you must keep in mind the time and medium through which you are trying to communicate with them.
People generally don't answer sales calls during the first half of the day. This makes this period more fruitful for emailing while the second half of the day when there is a lighter workload, marks a better time period for sales calls.
The same stands true for the week. Monday and Tuesday are not good for sales calls as the workload in the client's workspace can be high.
It is better to mail during the beginning of the week and choose to call during Thursdays and Fridays for better sales. In case of business calls, exactly the opposite stands true and it is better to call during office hours and mail at other times.
Subject of Communication
The question is ‘What’?
The subject of communication can be complicated or simple. If something doesn't need a lot of explanation or questioning, then email should be preferred to communicate that information.
In the case of situations where a lot is to be communicated back and forth, emails should be opted.
The subject matter of the communication greatly manoeuvres a better business or sales strategy for your company and thus should be thoroughly analyzed before making the next phone call.
The communication method should make your clients feel cared for and not unnecessarily bothered.
Stage of Communication
The question is ‘Which’?
You should monitor which stage of communication you are with a particular client. In the beginning, a phone call can better explain the complex information you intend to give.
However, for follow-up or feedback, emails are a better option.
There should be a gap of a week between two phone calls that you make to convert your client. In between, you can use emails to your rescue. It is better to close a sale with a phone call to check if everything is in place.
Previous Experience
The question is ‘Who’?
Based on your previous sales experiences and also your experience with the client you are approaching, you must determine whether you should make a call or email.
This factor is a personalized factor that completely depends on your instincts and analysis.
Each client should be dealt with the medium they're more comfortable with, whether it's phone calls, emails or even text messages.
Final Thoughts
These are the factors based on which one should determine the mode of communication with a client.
Keeping these points in mind can significantly increase the conversation rate in your company and also help you strategize your sales model. So use these points for your advantage while making your next sales move.
All said, I would emphasize on making these techniques easy for the salespeople. Make sure you are quick in your responses.
How do you achieve this?
Use email templates, customer data integration in your task list, fool proof resource management and easy access to reports to expedite the whole sales process.
Read how we reduced this time to half with edge CRM.
