What method of communication do you prefer?

[Jay Brass]

Hey all,

Just a random thing that came to my mind. Do you prefer to communicate with your clients via MSN/Yahoo! Messenger, texting, e-mail, phone, etc. Tell me why too. Wow, that felt weird.

[1entrepreneur]

For mobile(cell phone), I prefer texting, because I am on prepaid, so texting is cheaper than calling.

For other purposes, I prefer emailing.

[crackah]

Phone/Email.

You dont msn/yahoo or text potential clients.

[GuyBBY]

Phone or email. It depends on the issue. When I start speaking with someone I like to introduce via email to get the high level intro done and over with and offer the call. Then the call is much easier to discuss in depth and not have to confine ideas to this linear, formatted typing method but rather you can divulge into something that may be helpful or you can really catch the tone and sentiment of the person.

Guy

[JLeezer]

Phone/Email.

You dont msn/yahoo or text potential clients.

Sorry, I definitely think you're wrong on that one.

You do as your clients do. If your clients text, you text. If the call and leave voicemail if no one answers, you leave a voicemail if you call back and don't get an answer. If they don't leave a voicemail, neither do you.

That's one of the things they drilled into us at Deloitte. You want the client to be comfortable (i.e. meet their expectations). It might seem strange, but even the method of communication they set forth initially results in expectations that can either be met or ignored. They don't like it when they're ignored.

[crackah]

Yeah, I agree with that, and thats what I do, I do leave voice messages etc. But i mainly deal with big businesses with my business, so I dont think texting/IM would be appropriate.

[JLeezer]

Yeah, I agree with that, and thats what I do, I do leave voice messages etc. But i mainly deal with big businesses with my business, so I dont think texting/IM would be appropriate.

Yeah, I'd tend to agree with you that its not too common. I think I'd be kind of annoyed if someone wanted to communicate with me primarily by text msg...especially since I still pay per msg. Gotta love IM for internal communication though! Nothing beats being able to avoid a walk down the hall for a face-to-face that'll take 1000x longer than an IM.

[crackah]

Yeah IM for inside business would be great. No doubt, MY accountant uses MSN for his office haha.

[HEAllison]

Phone for immediate inquiries.
E-mail for all other reasons because you can reply at your leisure.

[tazman9r]

Phone, e-mail. I text as well, but specific people (who I know text) for specific inquiries.

[n/a]

E-mail for everything if I could. When clients need to give me detailed instructions is nice to have an easy written down reference I can go back to in my mail system.

Phone for certain things that are just to subjective to talk over text

Text messaging = only with friends and family, not for business.

[RLorenzen]

For clients I prefer e-mail and phone, but I do have a few clients that IM and text me.

For people within my company I use e-mail, phone, text, and IM. Whatever's effective. I like text and IM because it is very fast and convenient and therefore allows me to do business practically at lightning speed. IM and text is great for shooting messages back and forth to my CTO and other associates and getting things done quickly.

[Jay Brass]

Interesting. I like to use the e-mail system on my Blackberry because it's simple and it gets the job done easier. Second best is definitely my MSN messenger, which is also on my phone.

[shaggy]

It varies depending on the situation, place, time, all numerous other factors.

[rogercbryan]

I prefer e-mail as it doesn't leave room for miscommunication. I refuse to IM with people when it comes to business. I use the phone for basic communications or questions.