Brains on a Stick

Closing deals on IM

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Posted

June 4th, 2010

It’s been like 6 years ago now, but I wrote a document on the “5 Levels of Collaboration” or something like that.  Maybe there were 6 levels, but anyway, it was something about the nature of each level:

• A Written Letter
• Electronic Mail
• Instant Message
• Audio/Voice Interaction
• Video/Face-to-Face

I had written up a brief essay on how you move through these levels or combine them to get things done, which is generally different for different people.  Some folks you call up because that’s how you get them.  Others you text message or IM.  I had also put something in there about the nature of certain interactions simply requiring face-to-face meetings.

Over time and experience, I’ve found that knowing which one to use where is pretty important.  As a software developer, I used to be pretty one-sided.  It seemed easier for me to e-mail, text, or IM than anything – I could do it in-line while I was coding.  Later on, I realized that it was important that I get people on the phone – you just can’t tell a genuine a story on IM.

But finally – after my original “Levels of Collaboration” have been pillaged by the world of big software (and now made completely useless), I’ve started to see bridges between these things, where people simply use whatever is convenient. So now, closing deals on IM isn’t out of the question.

And to bring this full circle, closing deals on Facebook and Twitter is definitely in play.  I kind of lump Twitter into a “IM” platform.  I think Facebook is probably all of the above – it’s a platform that can host and foster any level of communication and probably any new level that is created.

What are you doing to change the way you communicate to create deeper relationships with your customers?  How are you adapting to what channels they are “on”?

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