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I Got Your Email. The Reason I Didn’t Read It Is…

Author: Jeffrey Dobkin   |   November 19th, 2009

Yea, I got your email yesterday.

I get everyone’s email, at least that’s the way it seems.  500 Messages a day.  Including, ahem, enlargement products, low mortgage rates, sex from Russian women who are lonely, free money from the Prime Minister of Nigeria, Viagra stores, a whole barrage of messages in Spanish which I don’t speak, and now in alphabets I can’t decipher.

Yes, I’m sure I received the email from you, but just refresh me – what was it about?

Isn’t it the same on your computer?  Thousands of pieces of information showing up in electronically charged ions every day?  When do you get the time to read it all? You don’t.

So, here’s the problem:

Computer overload.  Too much computer crap: too many emails. I haven’t got that much time. Everyone is taking precise aim right at my CRT (whoa – cathode ray tube, remember that?  Or am I dating myself – which wouldn’t be a bad thing as I’d have something to do this Friday night).

Frankly, I’m out of computer screen time. Or is it just me?  And more bad news: Until I figure out a way to get my computer into the bathroom, it’s likely to stay that way.

But there’s good news, too.  You don’t have to send everything by email.

Because you can send your clients a letter.  Remember them?  Letters are always well received and nice letters are really, really well received. Email = ugh not another one, how fast can I deal with this and get it off my screen! Letter = hey – I got a letter!

Come on, admit it – you like to get letters, too.  The nice letters can sit on your desk, you can reread it at your leisure and smile.  Go on – take it into the bathroom, I’ll wait.

Sure, email marketing is great if you need to supply a fast quote by the end of the day.  It’s an emergency vehicle.  But if it’s important, even that should be followed up by a letter.  Yea, a real USPS-delivered letter.  A confirmation letter.

Email marketing, websites, searches and results; everything on the web is a victim of your now crucially limited time staring at it on your computer screen.  And after the briefest of looks, it’s gone from your screen, gone from sight, and you know, out of sight out of mind.

But a letter? A real letter? Wow. I can send you a letter and it can sit on your desk for days (or around here – months).  All the while reminding you how much I care about you as a client and a friend.

Reminding you I took the trouble to sit down and compose it and actually write something intelligent out, in proper English, using capitals and without spelling errors, find an envelope and a stamp (no simple task around here, either), address it and stop at the post office to send it to you.

Yea, it was that important.

When you get right down to it, an email is a brief note that is always a nanosecond away from the delete button; while a letter is a permanent work that can stick around forever.

A letter can be your showpiece of fine linen stationary, handsome logo and well thought out, well phrased wording that has the permanence an email always lacks.   Traditional letters are always ready to be passed around the office, shown to colleagues – for them to touch and see: it’s a real document, with your personal signature right there on it.

Unlike emails, when a letter is filed away it’s always at hand. I’ll bet you 2 to 1 that you can put your hands on an old letter you received 6 months ago.  Even though it wasn’t that important when you received it, it went through an easy-to-find filing system developed by the gods 4,000 years ago.  But that email you got last week?  That’s different.

Where old messages go to die

I have this huge file on my computer called older mail.  It’s where old messages go to die.  On a good day, they received the briefest of looks, too bad I wasn’t ready to deal with the matter at hand at that time. Then, 500 more came in.

On a bad day they all went to directly to the spam file or the “Older Mail” folder unopened – to be viewed sometimes between later and never and just wound up trashed with all these other messages facing similar fate: death by distraction. Someday I’ll look through them all again.  All ten million of them.  Yea, right.  Do you keep telling yourself that, too?

Reality check: does your communications policy match your customer’s expectations?  That’s just not good enough, is it?  In today’s tough selling environment – it should exceed expectations.  Don’t you think you should strive for a more lasting impression than a brief email?

Bottom Line Marketing

So here’s what I’m saying: Other than an emergency message or a quick quote, don’t be too fast on the trigger to dash something off so nonchalantly in an email, or worse – blow someone off to your website* to hunt for information.  Make customers and prospects feel special: show real customer care by sending a letter.

An email marketing campaign isn’t going to match what you can do with a letter or a series of letters.  In fact, the best marketing program you can create is with a series of letters.  But, that’s another article.  Any questions?

Jeffrey

Visit Jeffrey Dobkin at JeffDobkin.com
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