Comparing Corporate Communications: The Protocols of E-mail Versus The Telephone

Everyone reaching out to clients, listen up. Readers treat e-mails like phone calls, and you must recognize it. As the volume of e-mail per person per day now vastly exceeds phone calls and direct mail, e-mail recipients have become more discerning in how they react and respond to an already overloaded inbox.

The primary method of corporate information delivery has switched from telephone to e-mail, and the deluge of e-mail now forces marketers and relationship-builders to wonder why their e-mail campaigns are stagnant, ineffective and resulting in single digit response rates.

The root of the problem is mismanaging recipients’ expectations. E-mail communication must follow consistent, socially acceptable business communication protocols.

The closest comparison to e-mail in today’s business world is the telephone. Both the telephone and e-mail are used for conversations to connect vendors to customers and prospects. However, sending e-mail marketing campaigns and generic e-mail newsletters are not conversations.