Articles
It’s changed the way we think and behave
Who do we thank (and curse) for email?
by John GrahamEmail may be the most significant communications advance since the telephone.
Setting aside what may be coming next, email has totally changed the way
we exchange information.
How dependent are we on email? Perhaps it’s not an exaggeration to suggest
that if email were taken away, business would come to an instant halt and catapult
us into a worldwide depression.
While email technology deserves endless praise, the abuses are just as notable.
The quantity of junk email explodes faster than a pair of rabbits. And there’s
no end in sight.
Who would have thought that anything could possibly exceed the volume of junk
mail we found in our mailboxes? Yet, looking back just a couple of years, it
was nothing compared to the amount of junk emails that fill our computer mailboxes.
Even the delete button is small comfort.
Certainly, the promise of junk email is dazzling! How can anyone resist the endless
possibilities?
“Eliminate your debt.” The dream comes true.
“Burn your own DVD videos!” Eat your heart out, Blockbuster.
“Stop hair loss this week!” Another dream comes true.
“You have been chosen…” What am I going to get for free?
“You can own an adult web site and make huge $$$.” So exciting, daring,
and naughty.
“Win a Mercedes!”
Just what I’ve been waiting for.
“FREE Viagra.” Maybe email is not so bad after all.
“Reach 1 million prospects.”
Just think of all the money that will come rolling in.
“Get two FREE airline tickets!” That vacation is in reach, finally.
“Bridging the gap.” I wasn’t aware of one, but now I’m
concerned.
“Your prayers for a unique annuity have been answered.”
We know all this is too good to be true––but we hope that just maybe
it is.
At the same time, there’s another side to the email frenzy, one that’s
darker and less friendly. It’s also one that’s having a negative
impact on the business environment. That’s why it is helpful to consider
the impact of email as a form of communication. While the benefits of email are
enormous, it’s worth avoiding its negative aspects.
1. Email tends to encourage interpersonal dueling. Because
email messages are often “dashed off” and less well thought
out than a letter, for example, they can be curt or even misleading. At
times, perhaps both.
One manager received an email from a client who had received the wrong email
attachment. “I asked for this last week.” Reading between the words,
the implication was clear. The sender was somewhat irritated and outraged. While
the attachment was incorrect, he had “forgotten”
that certain work was necessary before the document could be sent to him.
Perhaps because senders tend to use as few words as possible, emailing tends
to encourage abruptness, something most people have learned to avoid in face-to-face
or even telephone conversations. And since the recipient is unseen, it is easier
to be blunt.
2. Email often confuses action with act. Notable changes
in communication began taking place with the introduction of the fax machine.
Like leaving a note or mailing a letter, faxing only separated the message
sender from the recipient. But unlike them, faxing was almost instant.
Fax messages could be dashed off and delivered in a few moments to another
office or another country. Voicemail escalated the process even further.
Pick up the phone and “just say it,” often with minimal thought.
Email has ratcheted up the process even further.
A by-product of more efficient communication, particularly email, is the errroneous
belief that sending a message is all that’s required. In other words, an
act (sending an email message) is confused with action (resolving a problem,
for example). When asked about a particular situation, we often hear someone
say, “I sent her an email” as if sending the message absolves the
sender from further responsibility.
3. Email seems to encourage third-rate thinking. Half
the messages don’t make sense. How many times a day do you hit the “reply” button
and ask the sender what he or she meant?
Because it is designed to be quick, email seems to foster off-the-cuff, shoot-from-the-hip
thinking. Or more to the point, a lack of thought. Whatever comes into someone’s
mind at the moment is sent. Out of sight––and gone! Move on to the
next one and repeat the process. It’s as if getting the message sent is
more important than the message itself. If this sounds crazy, just read the emails
you received yesterday. And, sent.
4. Email often encourages “dumping” on the people we need to help
us. Friday afternoon is the worst, but the end of any day of the week
is bad. And then there’s the day before a three-day holiday. There’s
nothing like it. This is the time for “email dumping”
and it has quickly become the essential business skill. Get it off the
desk. Don’t get caught on Monday with someone saying, “Hey
Toni, did you take care of the Anderson job?” And you say, “Don’t
worry about it. I sent it on to Joe.” Dumping. Don’t get caught
with the ball in your court. That spells trouble. And email is the answer.
What makes “dumping” insidious is that the messages are often incomplete.
The administrative assistant sends the printer an order by email––but
half the specs are missing. Who cares? It’s gone until next week!
Unfortunately, “dumping” encourages miscommunication, mistakes, and
a loss of time.
5. Email can depersonalize communication. Face-to-face
communication is not necessary much of the time. Besides, it often takes
up valuable time. Email, however, seems to change the nature of the communication
process. For example, we say things in an email message that we probably
would not say either on the phone or face-to-face. It’s not uncommon
to open an email and discover something like this: “I need the job
done tomorrow before 9:00 a.m.” Now, that may not be a problem most
of the time, but generally this type of message involves a complicated
task. And the request would never be expressed so blatantly by phone, for
example, where a sense of negotiation would take place.
Being warm and fuzzy all the time is far from necessary. In fact, being a little
less “chatty” is often in order. At the same time, email makes it
easier to depersonalize communication and to disregard the recipient.
6. Email seems to encourage stupid behavior. It’s
far easier to be stupid with email than it is with junk snail mail, broadcast
faxes, or telemarketing. It takes extra effort, of course, but it seems
as if a lot of people are determined to prove the point. The culprit––of
course––is price. Anyone with a computer, an email address
list and a telephone line salivates at the thought of reaching a quarter
of a million “prospects” on the cheap.
To reach so many people so fast and for so little is almost too good to be true.
Although those sending you the 159 emails that greet you on Monday morning don’t
seem to realize it, it is too good to be true. They can save you from bankruptcy
or help you get there. They will increase your bust size or your virility, depending
on who you are. Someone you don’t even know is waiting to pay your bills.
And a free vacation is just a click away. Talk about heaven on earth.
With emailing so cheap, everyone comes out of the woodwork at midnight. How could
anyone be so stupid as to expect it to work? It’s not surprising that all
this is happening. “Blast faxing” has slowed down with the explosion
of broadcast emailing.
The genius of email is primarily as an incredibly effective and efficient form
of communication that deserves the same high standards as writing any thoughtful
letter or memo. To abuse it is to abuse those who receive our emails.
John R. Graham is president of Graham Communications, a marketing services and sales consulting firm. He is the author of The New Magnet Marketing and Break the Rules Selling, writes for a variety of business publications, and speaks on business, marketing and sales issues. Contact him at 40 Oval Road, Quincy, MA 02170; 617-328-0069; jgraham@grahamcomm.com.