I couldn’t help staring at the guy. I was in a crowded mall, surrounded by people enjoying themselves, except for this one man who was standing alone shouting into his cell phone. His tone, volume and body movements expressed magnificently that he was very upset with someone about something. The person he was arguing with may or may not have cared what he was talking about, but the roughly 30 people present who had to listen to him absolutely did not care what he was talking about. Like it or not, we all got an earful.
I know I’m not alone in wondering if we are really better off with the prominence of smartphones. Sure, they make communication more convenient. But they have so many downsides, including forcing innocent bystanders to listen to what should be personal, private conversations.
Smartphones make communication more convenient. But I do not believe they enhance communication.
I love Joe Tumolo’s article this issue on picking up the phone (p. 8). It’s way too easy these days to fire off emails, fiddle with a newsletter article, and go days and weeks without ever actually speaking to prospective donors.
Do what Joe suggests. Pick up the phone. Every day.
AND…
Take your communication strategy one more step back in time to a truly old-school method of communication: face-to-face conversations.
When you only ever talk to people digitally or even by phone, you miss so much. When you personally meet with your prospects, on the other hand, all of the immediate communication vectors are fully enabled. Not just what you say, but how you look, how you act, your body language, the way you dress, what’s on their bookshelf, whose photos they have framed on top of the TV. A million communication cues, big and small, subtle or obvious, come into play. And all of them can work for you in cultivating a relationship with the prospect and moving towards closing that gift.
We are in the business of relationships. While technology can help us be efficient, it is constantly pulling us away from real human interactions. From time to time, take a step back in time. Call someone. Have a cup of coffee at someone’s kitchen table, and leave your phone in the car.
By the way, human interaction has proven health benefits too. More on that next time…
