Call Or Email: Choosing How To Communicate
Communication has come a long way since the time of landlines and sending letters. But even then, two of the most common forms of interaction are calling and emailing. These are both professional, personal, and effective ways to communicate with friends, family, and clients.
Emailing is great, but when people spend an average of 28% of their day sending emails, a phone call might be a welcome change. Of course, phone calls can be time-consuming and unwelcome at certain times of the night.
Let’s take a look at the times when it’s more appropriate to make a phone call versus the times when it’s necessary to shoot out an email.
The Right Times to Call
Making a phone call is easier than ever with smartphones, and calling a friend is one of the most effective ways to communicate. Here are some of the better times to make a phone call as opposed to email.
When You Have to Explain Something Complicated
It’s easy for someone to misconstrue written words when you send them an email or text that tries to explain something complex. Often, messages with loads of information feel overwhelming and they may cause the receiver to miss pertinent information.
If you ever need to speak with someone to explain a procedure or process that is too difficult to write out, making a call is always a good idea. Plus, this also allows the recipient to freely ask you questions while on the call to clarify any missed steps. It also ensures that you feel confident that the recipient has understood the information at hand.
When You Need to Apologize
Everybody makes mistakes, but not everybody goes about handling them correctly. If you’ve made an error that came at the expense of a friend, business partner, or family member, a call can go a long way.
Calls are more personal than an email, and they can show that you truly feel bad about your actions and want to rectify them however possible. The recipient will probably be glad that you took some time out of your day to apologize directly, and they’ll be more likely to forgive you.
That’s not to say that you can’t briefly apologize for a tiny mistake via email. However, if you’ve made a major error, calling someone can make a world of difference.
When Something Is Urgent or Personal
One of the benefits of emails is that you can respond to them whenever you feel up to it. However, that’s also one of the major drawbacks.
If you need to communicate time-sensitive information, calling is always a good idea. It puts the recipient “on the spot” in a sense, allowing you to move forward with whatever obstacle is standing in both of your paths.
Calling eliminates the back and forth pattern that often coincides with emailing. This also makes it a great avenue when speaking to someone about personally sensitive information. For one, it communicates the information quickly. It also makes it so that there is no digital footprint of the information that may put the individual’s privacy at risk later on.
Finally, it’s really easy to overlook an email and completely forget that it’s sitting in the inbox. Making a call eliminates that risk and helps you accomplish tasks quickly.
When You’ve Taken a While to Respond
Speaking of overlooking emails, if you’ve ever forgotten to respond to an email for a long time and you finally remembered, you may want to consider making a phone call. It’s just a bit of common courtesy that not only lets you apologize in real-time, but it also lets you address the sender’s concerns as quickly as possible to make up for lost time.
When to Send an Email
While calling lets you get up close and personal, email feels a little bit further removed. But that doesn’t make it a bad way of communicating. There are times when it is recommended over making a call.
To Keep a Digital Record
If you’re engaging in a business transaction or making a sale to a customer, you definitely want to make sure you have a record in some way, shape, or form. Email is a way to electronically have proof of purchase or receipt if someone challenges you for being untruthful.
When you make a call, you don’t get this same privilege. However, you can give someone a call to let them know they’ve received an important email that they may need to keep for their records.
When You’re Trying to Advertise
The beauty of email is that you can send picture and video files as well as textual information. This makes it an ideal marketing tool for your business, especially when you use graphic design to your advantage.
Emails can catch a customer’s attention, and you can even include links to your website’s homepage or product pages. Plus, people may just think you’re a telemarketer if you try to call and they don’t recognize your number. Instead, you can bypass this by sending out an email with promotions and deals.
When You’re Speaking With Someone Important
While making a phone call is highly personal, it can also be hard to sound professional since you need to talk on the fly. Emails give you more time to sound professional because you can proofread and spend more time making sure it reads as you want.
This makes it a preferred method for reaching out to potential clients for the first time. Plus, you can include attachments or supplementary material to make your message come across loud and clear.
Making the Right Call
Call and email are both respectable ways to communicate information – but there’s a time and place for each one.
Calls are usually preferred during the following times:
Addressing a complicated subject where you anticipate many questions.
Apologizing for a sizable error.
Conveying time-sensitive information.
Conveying information that is highly personal and private.
Addressing someone’s concerns after forgetting to respond to an email.
On the flipside, times it might be right to send an email include:
Keeping a digital record with important information.
Marketing to potential clients with the use of pictures or video.
Communicating with someone where professionalism is necessary.
Communication can be tough, but some apps can make it easy. Dialed is a macro tool for your micro business that lets you group contacts based on certain characteristics, choose a brand new business phone number, and create a custom voicemail box for your business.
It can even auto-respond to messages that were sent after hours. With Dialed, you might not even need to worry about sending an email or making a phone call yourself ever again.
Sources:
How to Spend Way Less Time on Email Every Day | Harvard Business Review
