read online:
Success Means Face-time, Not Just Facebook!
by Kathy Cripps, President of the Council of Public Relations Firms on FIRMVOICE blog
September 22nd, 2010
About 47 billion
non-spam email messages are sent each day around the world . Social media use in the workplace is endemic (to the point where a little over half of companies in one survey reported
banning it).
With electronic relationships all the rage, is there still a need for good, old-fashioned face-time in business?
Absolutely.
Recent data suggests that the personal touch—and by that I mean such old school practices as actually shaking hands and smiling at someone without the use of an emoticon—remains incredibly potent. In a
2010 happiness survey fielded in sixteen countries around the world, about forty percent of said that “catching up with their loved ones after work was the happiest time of the day,” while only five percent said “they were happiest when connecting with friends online.” Likewise,
intriguing research in the field of psychology has found that personal contact accompanied by an expression of trust increased levels of the brain chemical oxycocin, which in turn leads to increased trust.
Survey data also suggests pretty strongly that personal contact matters in the workplace. A
2009 survey of Harvard Business Review subscribers found that almost all (95%) thought that “face-to-face meetings are a key factor in successfully building and maintaining long-term relationships.” Almost 80% thought that such meetings “are the most effective way to meet new clients.” Even Gen Y seems susceptible to the personal touch.
A
survey of philanthropic donors found that “91% of Millennial donors are at least somewhat likely to respond to a face-to-face request for money from a nonprofit organization, with 27% being highly likely to respond to such a request. Only 8% are highly likely to respond to an e-mail request.”
Businesspeople may think face-time important, but does meeting in person yield actual results? An
academic analysis found a correlation between business travel (measured by international business travel arrivals) and innovation (measured in terms of patents issued); increasing business arrivals by 10% led patenting to increase by 1%. And this year, a group of almost 4,000 protestant churches is trying to lure back worshipers by
offering personal invitations as part of its “Back to Church Sunday” program. Last year, participating churches saw an almost 20% rise in attendance on the Sunday in question.
When it comes to building relationships, you don’t need to be in the same room; even talking on the phone can help. A Swedish bank called Handelsbanken is rapidly expanding thanks to its “personal relationship” oriented business model. As one manager noted, “…our focus is always on developing personal relationships with our customers. Our clients can ring us up and speak to us, to people they know by name. There are no call centres to deal with. It is what banking used to be like in the main clearing banks 25 years ago.”
Like our colleagues in other fields, public relations professionals do their share of emailing, texting, and Facebooking—in no small part because our offices tend to be more mobile today. Sometimes, however, we let the technology get away from us. If you watch “Mad Men,” the client relationships are all about schmoozing. Let’s take a lead from that show and pursue some honest personal contact with others. Take that younger co-worker out to lunch. Grab a coffee with that longtime client. Place a call to check in with your new business contacts. Stop a colleague in the hall to congratulate her on an award or a business win.
Ours is a business of people and relationships; we’re not programmers or accountants. Because we’re advocates, we need credibility, and gaining one’s trust is best done in person and with a personal touch. Sometimes, this means having a hard conversation in which we take responsibility when things don’t go well. Other times, it might mean simply introducing people whom we admire and who might be able to help one another. To really gain traction, some quick tweets or a few emails are simply not enough. You also need the good old, fashioned meet and greet.