While the email traffic may have slowed a little over the Christmas break, very quickly it’s back to an average 40-50 messages awaiting my attention each morning.
Email technology has transformed and improved many aspects of the way we all do business—no arguments there. It’s streamlined processes and made work portable, flexible and more effective.
But I can’t help but wonder if in our quest for expediency and efficiency, businesses have begun to lose the art of personal communication, and are missing out on the benefits that come when you prioritise human relationships over screens.
PaySmart’s business is built upon a foundation of great technology, but it’s the relationships we build with our clients and how we treat and service them, that’s critical to our success. It’s one of the reasons we made a conscious decision to have an Australian-based call centre staffed with people, not machines, emails and auto-responses.
Of course the reality is that an email is often quicker, but sometimes – not every time – I really believe it’s worth taking the time to pick up the phone, write a personal note, drop by an employee’s desk or make a visit face to face.
This approach will be top of mind for me as we launch into 2015. I’d love to hear how you plan to keep human relationships front and centre in your business dealings this year.
