The Strategist

The Importance of Personal Contact



03/16/2015 - 15:40



In today's fast-growing world, business contacts are more supported by the Internet. How would you recommend communicating with partners, if you no longer have regular opportunities to meet with them face to face?



pixabay.com
pixabay.com
Nowadays, it is quite possible to make a presentation for a client in South Africa in the morning, sell goods to the customer in Australia after lunch, and eat fish with fries on the coast of the UK and at the end of the day. For all this, we must say thanks to new technologies that allow you to manage business from anywhere with an Internet connection.

To strengthen the modern business alliances it is important to use a variety of communication platforms. It is equally important to think openly and quickly adopt new ideas. It is important to remember that different cultures and regions can teach you something that will give your business a huge advantage. The more environment is diversed, the more good ideas will give your team, and that means more choices for your clients. You have to use different means of communication to inspire your team members around the world to collaborate and innovate.

One of the ways to do it is using of Google’s service Hangouts. This popular online video platform allows you to see and hear everything that is said by members of your group. He also allows you to display large-format images, what is pretty hard to do on your phone and cannot be done by e-mail. This is especially good platform for exchange of ideas.

For short conversations during the day, we also use Skype. It is faster and less formal than e-mail, and I found that communication through video chat allows people to be liberated and relax. This is important to make sure that your contacts with partners are free from stress and held in a friendly atmosphere. This is the key to success in business. Remember that the most successful meeting, regardless of format, are obtained when people just talk to each other, and regular video chat can be a good alternative to face to face meetings.

When you have a joint project with someone with whom it is impossible to communicate on a regular basis, it is useful to have another type of communication. One relatively inexpensive tools of this kind, which is used by many entrepreneurs, is Evernote - an application that allows all the people performing some task to see what else has been done. It is a good way to track the performance of tasks and keep your team in good shape.

However, although new technologies now more than ever become easy to stay in touch and keep in touch with distant business partners, we should not forget about the old methods. For example, write a personal letter: it is worth it – just write a few lines written with real ink by your own hand after conclusion of the contract, an event or in order to establish new personal contacts. It is a sign of sincere respect. It is also very nice - from time to time to look away from the computer and take up the pen and paper.

To establish and maintain meaningful contacts with potential partners, you need to use the benefits that are available, and which are given by technology that became a useful tool for anyone who wants to create or develop your business. You must also be willing to try new methods as they become available. Moreover, do not forget that old-fashioned methods of communication are still relevant.

Original by Andres Jaramilo