GRCA_CommerceQuarterly_Spring2018 - 22

feature

Leveraging High-Tech
and High-Touch in
Client Communications
By Chrissy Faller,
Director of Public Relations & Social Media, Anderson Group

D

igital trends have shaped how we interact internally with
staff and externally with clients, vendors, and prospects.
Yet, there's a danger in depending too much on new trends
or the latest technology and forgetting about phone calls and snail
mail entirely.

As communications change and evolve, we adopt new devices
and ways to stay relevant and keep in touch with our clients.
Big innovations like the smart phone or the smart watch, for
instance, keep everyone just a few clicks or notifications away. The
omnipresence of technology has transformed our behavior, how we
communicate interpersonally, and how we expect others to engage
us in conversation, so to speak.
It's precisely the reason that professionals need to delve in and
understand the dynamics of each demographic they want to reach.
Knowing how they adapt to the trends will help us connect more
meaningfully with clients, customers, and partners as individuals.
Where are your clients? And what is the best way to reach
them? Aside from studying attitudes and tracking behaviors, age is
an excellent indicator to predict the communication channels that
typically appeal to different generations. According to the Data &
Marketing Association, studies show Baby Boomers and seniors
over age 60 usually prefer printed postal mail over emails, and
Boomers and Generation X who are under age 60 prefer email. On
the opposite end of the continuum sit Millennials who gravitate
toward channels that offer instantaneous feedback. Millennials and
many high-tech entrepreneurs feel that email is too slow and has
lost its sense of urgency, tending to pile up like old school "snail
mail." While email may be a method to send official documents,
many would rather use messengers and task apps to speed things up.

22 COMMERCE QUARTERLY

SPRING 2018

Closing Communication Gaps
with Technology
Using high-tech, high-touch tools allows you to remove the
barriers of geography, time zones, and satellite offices.
There are a number of collaboration tools that allow you to
work on the same document in real-time. It doesn't get more
collaborative than talking on a conference line or video chat
while you and your client are typing simultaneously in the same
document, able to see the changes being made by the other
person as they happen. Google Docs and Dropbox are two great
collaborative tools that help increase efficiency and reduce the
confusion of sifting through numerous drafts to find the latest
version. With commenting boards and chats, these tools serve as an
interactive hub.
Project management apps are also on the rise both for
individuals who want to be better organized and for teams to
work hand-in-hand with their clients. Microsoft Sharepoint,
Basecamp, Wrike, and Assana are popular project management and
communication apps that get the team on one page to track their
projects and tasks to stay efficient, on task, and on budget. The apps
are visually designed to show key items at a glance, which can make
it easy for clients to give feedback directly at their convenience -
even in between meetings if they hop onto their mobile devices.
Giving your clients access to collaborative tools reinforces
the sense of transparency and a trusted partnership. Having
continuously updated progress reports can also help alleviate the
need to create multiple status reports, which can take time you
may not have when you are on a pressing deadline or monitoring



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GRCA_CommerceQuarterly_Spring2018 - 1
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https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/GreaterReadingChamber_CommerceQuarterly/GRCA_CommerceQuarterly_Fall2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/GreaterReadingChamber_CommerceQuarterly/GRCA_CommerceQuarterly_Summer2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/GreaterReadingChamber_CommerceQuarterly/GRCA_CommerceQuarterly_Spring2018
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