Why Every Business Should Be Using More Than Just Email for Communication

When it comes to business communication, few methods are more popular than email. In fact, there are many online businesses that only use email as a primary means of responding to customer inquiries and collaborating with employees and partners. Although it’s possible to be successful using email as your go-to correspondence tool, it can’t be denied that utilising multiple methods of contact would be ideal. With that said, here are several reasons why every business should look to incorporate chat, voice calling, video calling, project management interfaces, and other forms of collaboration into their internal communication strategy:

1. Facilitating Immediate Responses and Real-Time Communication

Sending an email and waiting for a response is almost always going to be slower than simply contacting someone via chat, phone, or video call. While it’s technically possible to engage in a real-time conversation using email if your recipient is standing by responding to each message as they come through, oftentimes people only check their emails periodically, and some purposefully don’t check their emails at all outside of work hours. According to the unified communications specialists at CodeSoftware.net, email is slowly being phased out of internal communications by companies that wish to achieve real-time interaction with employees.

2. Addressing the Occasional Reliability Lapse

We’ve all experienced it – you send out an important email, or are waiting for one to come through from a client or team member, and to your surprise it goes to the spam folder, gets caught up in cyberspace for a few minutes or longer, or is accidentally left in the sender’s draft folder because they forgot to click the send button. While majorly disruptive email mistakes aren’t an everyday thing, they do happen, and such mishaps won’t give an appealing first impression to a client who is looking for reliability. On the other hand, when you have someone engaged in a chat or call, the messages are received and responded to almost instantly.

3. Providing Immediate Support to Increase Sales

You’ve probably noticed that many online retail shops have started offering customer support via convenient chat boxes. This is a smart move because it helps you secure those impulse purchases that might otherwise not take place if you give the customer time to change their minds. By the time you respond to their email, they might’ve already decided on another brand or provider, so time is really of the essence when a lead is expressing interest.

Stepping Up to the Plate During Off Hours

Many business owners act as though they’re too busy or too important to respond to messages outside of business hours. However, due to difference in time zones, any online business should be prepared to respond to leads 24 hours a day. It doesn’t take much effort to type a quick response or engage in a brief chat, so be sure to make yourself available as much as reasonably possible and you’ll notice an increase in brand advocates, lead generation, and customer retention rates.

Published by Kidal Delonix (1200 Posts)

Kidal Delonix is a contributor to Mr. Hoffman's blog. The views and opinions are entirely his/her own and may not reflect Mr Hoffman's views.