Technology should make keeping in touch easier -- but for many, it's just made it more complex than ever
I am having a hard time keeping up with my contacts. I use Outlook Calendar and try to stay in touch with reminders, but things keep falling through the cracks. I don't know how anyone produces and stays in touch the way they need to. Any insight on this issue?
--Trevor from Colorado
You are not alone. Keeping in touch is a major issue with regard to your short-term and long-term customer service and marketing efforts. You would think with technology today, it would be that much easier. But technology made it more complex. Decades ago, we kept in touch by mail and phone. And if we wanted to keep notes about a conversation, we wrote it down on paper. Today we have more means of communication: email, texting, phone and instant messaging through various apps. And we still have the old standards of phone and mail.
We have computers and software to keep track, but the means of communication are not all connected with the applications. For example, when you instant message on Facebook, that conversation is not recorded anywhere. With an email, at least you can have a conversation trail on the computer, which is much preferable to the stacks of papers we used to have. It is no wonder that things get missed with the many modes of communication we are taking part in.
So, what is the solution? There is no one answer to the issue. The solution is actually two-fold. One, we need to have a centralized system to keep track. Second, we need to have the discipline to use that system. In the next few weeks we will talk about centralizing your contact databases and your conversations.
--Dave Hershman
Dave Hershman has been the leading author and a top speaker for the industry for decades with six books authored and hundreds of articles published. His website is www.originationpro.com. If you have a reaction to this commentary or another question you would like answered in this column? Email Dave directly at [email protected].
