It’s story-time.

Let’s take you into my childhood.

I was born in 1970. In a very small town where my neighbors were actually my aunts and uncles cousins and grandparents. Everybody I needed to talk to was within a two to three block radius of my house. I remember phone dialing was by putting your finger in a little circle to turn a big circle for each and every individual number. That was called a rotary phone.

Things changed dramatically when the rotary phone became a push-button phone because you could correct your call without having to start all over and watch that dial turn back to zero every single time.

Now I am all grown up living in the digital world of the 21st century. Today on my mobile device I can find out what movies are playing; at what time; at what theatre;  and what restaurants are close to that so I could set up a whole social engagement within minutes. Boy things have changed! 

Why do I start this way from where I was when I was first born to where I am now? 

I just wanted to compare, contrast and reflect on the communication methods then vs today. I wanted to ask what do you think worked better? The way we communicate with each other today is very complicated, has complex social rules, and there are many things to consider when having a conversation with anyone. On the contrary, I am always about if I want to talk to any of my friends, I call them.  End of story. 

My friends and I have a long-standing relationship and understand that the spoken word is far more personal, effective and quicker than any text, or social media post. It used to be the same way for business for me. I would pick up the phone, call clients, and have a conversation. Now I find that I have better odds of communicating with and hearing back from my clients using text messages.  It feels like I’m dating someone and doing my best to confirm a meeting spot and time – but it is effective!!

Now, let’s talk about setting up a meeting or a time to have a conversation with a professional contact. Do I work with their assistant?  Do I email them a calendar invite? What do I use to have this call? 

It seems as though the easier we make it to get in touch with each other the harder it is to figure out which way to do so.

OK – so maybe I might be complicating things, or making it seem like I am  – an old man who cannot learn new tricks. I think both are true – to a degree. I just don’t want technology to become a reason to not communicate with each other ‘LIVE / IN-PERSON / REAL-TIME’ and remove the human touch/contact that has been the way we have interacted with each other for thousands of years. Instead, let’s start with agreeing to turn the clock back a little bit, take responsibility for our part in relationships (personal and professional) and engage in human interaction, and actually enjoy being a living, breathing human being.

I do this every day and here’s my challenge for you:

Call your client on the phone, and client – pick up the phone, have a conversation with everyone who calls you tomorrow. Have a real conversation even if you’re not interested or don’t think there’s any value in anything. 

Conclusion:

I told this story because I wanted you to connect with me as a reader. And also understand that, though there are many fast and easy ways we can communicate in today’s world, nothing can replace human-to-human connection. Let’s consider that and reflect on ways where we use the best of both the world to understand and talk to people better.

Contact us by emailing hello@inceptasolutions.com or calling +1 (855) 818-0018 to learn how we value human connections while doing business at Incepta.