Last evening, in making the keynote presentation for the ADJA Conference, I spoke about we use, misuse and abuse, various forms of communication media.
In talking about email, I said, “If you and I exchange three emails on one topic, I stop emailing and pick up the phone.”
There are exceptions to that. Alan Berg (The Knot) said in his morning presentation that while what I said is true, often. when it comes to communicating with a bride, exchanging emails is often a ‘legitimate conversation.’
This is true for a few reasons.
- Most brides work during the day. They may be free to quietly exchange emails, but many are not easily accessible by phone.
- The under-40 generation is very comfortable exchanging emails and text messages. They see these methods as a conversation, even though we would prefer to have a phone conversation or face-to-face sales meeting.
A couple of years ago, a client reminded me of something I had told him a dozen years ago. I had said, “We must communicate with prospects and clients in the way they want to be communicated with.” Aside from ending a sentence with a preposition, that’s a good thought. I am pleased that Alan reminded me of that reasoning.
Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority
All my marketing is online, although I do agree that a lot of the time you can get a lot more done quicker if you just ask for the phone number and pick up the phone, I’ve gotten used to keeping it all online….
My inquiries come through my contact form… which come into my inbox… then I have a series of 2 emails that I have already prepared… after those two emails are covered I offer them to come in and talk about their event in greater detail. Majority of brides, I would say about 60-70% of them, I never talk to until we are face to face.
Frank
Andy,
I totally agree with your statement about communicating with brides they way they want – we have a LOT of clients who are doing the majority of their planning via email at work. Sometimes it’s best to just ask them what they prefer, we do that right on our website contact form.
Evan