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With the global warming and for all the financial reasons, can't they just finish things over the phone?
A local TV station did a piece a few days ago - Phoenix to Las Vegas by Air, counting all the drive time, parking, and general silly security hassles = 6 hours, 20 minutes (for less than a 90 minute flight). To drive from Phoenix to Las Vegas, figuring 50 mph average - 5 hours 30 min.
As my old salesman teacher said, "never sell by telephone"
Matt
7% words used
38% voice quality
55% body language
All of these can be accommodated with today's technology. There really is no need for that face to face.
But, that's the way I think. I have one local client who "makes me" come to his office for a face to face every six months. We get zero accomplished during that meeting other than some warm fuzzies. I get more done in a 10 minute phone call than I do spending 4-5 hours of preparation and travel.
In technical discussions, face-to-face can get in the way. But, in building a business relationship, face to face is vital. Eventually, it comes down to trust and it is difficult to convey caring over the web or on the phone.
7% words used
That's an interesting statistic. From that number, I would say most of us here in a fora setting have mastered that 7% of words used.
38% voice quality
Emoticons have replaced the voice quality. Emoticons help with inflection. They also provide some body language clues too. Depends on your Emoticon Set. :)
55% body language
The largest part of the equation and the one that "we" can't see. Unless of course we have a video conference going.
Those above statistics are from the traditional methods of communication. But, our careers as Internet Marketers are not traditional. Our time is extremely valuable. Our client base may expand the globe. Unless those are "very large" clients, we may never "see them" face to face.
Don't get me wrong, face to face presentations are still an integral part of the sales process. The higher the dollar amount, the more likley a face to face is going to occur, its human nature. Most people do not like to part with large sums of money without "seeing" who it is parting with. :)
But, that's the way I think. I have one local client who "makes me" come to his office for a face to face every six months. We get zero accomplished during that meeting other than some warm fuzzies. I get more done in a 10 minute phone call than I do spending 4-5 hours of preparation and travel.
Yet you keep going back P1R. Must be more to it than simple efficiency. :)
Communication is made up of...
7% words used
38% voice quality
55% body language
And where did those statistics come from?
And where did those statistics come from?
Not sure of the original source but those were the statistics I learned during behavior modification training.
Cultural intertia. Similar to above, but some cultures (notably in Asia) have the same values across generational lines. When I lived/worked in Korea, a number of meetings where no business took place (basically getting to know each other and find ways to bonding- I called it "corporate dating") was the norm and I finally just accepted it as the price of doing business. Things are changing somewhat (again, mostly due to the younger generation), but the decision makers still msotly insist on doing things the old way.
Trust. With the number of online (and offline) scams drastically increasing, actually meeting a potential business partner or client in person is becoming important again. You're not going to wire $5,000 to a guy in Nigeria based of a couple of e-mails and phone calls. Would you act differently for a $500,000 project with someone you never met in person?
Not sure of the original source but those were the statistics I learned during behavior modification training.
So they were probably made up by whoever was giving the training.
I can find no reference on any searches to support that, or that such a survey has ever actually been done.
Financially, it's better for the business than an increase in pay for the employee, because it's tax-deductible, whereas a higher salary means more taxes to pay.
Also, face-to-face does result in higher sales. Maybe that's because it's easier to say no via email or over the phone than it is to say no to someone with whom you just ate lunch.
But I think it also has something to do with playing favorites. Face it - in business, people always play favorites. That's why the person who's well-liked can get the promotion over the surly guy who's better qualified. Likewise, a good sales contract can go to a company with a slightly higher cost, just because the salesman is more likeable.
A variation of face-to-face is the Independent Sales Office (ISO) model. That's where you sub contract with people (or offices) who are in various parts of the country. They're already on location, so they can easily visit local prospects to close the deal. We have face-to-face ISO's exclusively now. We no longer deal with internet-only sales, because they only bring in a fraction of the business that a face-to-face agent can do.
"Face time" is critical, because it helps to bond the team. The cultural gulf is very wide. This year has seen a great deal less "face time" than in the past, and we have been suffering a lot more minor communications errors.
When the two sides are 14 hours apart, even a minor glitch can result in 2 or 3 days of delay.
Geeks often forget about the human aspect.
OTOH, I have worked with American and Canadian contractors for years with barely any telephone, video or FTF contact, and it has worked well.
Just my experience.
So they were probably made up by whoever was giving the training.
No, they were not made up by whomever was doing the training. That formula was devised by Albert Mehrabian known best by his publications on the relative importance of verbal and nonverbal messages.
Albert Mehrabian, Ph.D.
[kaaj.com...]
I can find no reference on any searches to support that, or that such a survey has ever actually been done.
I was able to find a whole bunch of references to the 7%-38%-55% Rule (45,800 to start). What exactly did you search for?
They are often abbreviated as the "3 Vs" for Verbal, Vocal & Visual.
It might be just a tad out of date. At that time even good phone connections could be a problem (well, they still are, but....).
This information is so often repeated as 'fact' that it seems to be accepted as true by nearly everyone you ask and just like the phenomenon of '100 Monkey Syndrome' and myth that 'LSD stays in the body for years' or 'Eskimo's have 100 words for snow' has dropped into the public consciousness without much examination.
from [ecademy.com...]
...is one I agree with.
[edited by: Wlauzon at 11:36 am (utc) on Sep. 11, 2007]
I hear an awful lot of theory.
My job requires both heavy-duty travel and heavy-duty technical communications. There is no one, true answer.
I work with Germans and Japanese. The Germans are very close to us culturally, and many of the Germans have a better vocabulary than many native English speakers. Their workday also overlaps ours by a great deal.
The Japanese have a very stilted grasp of English, and we have zero grasp of Japanese. Their culture is very far apart from ours and their workday is offset by 13 to 14 hours.
These each require differing amounts of "face time," and there are many variables involved.
In spite of all the issues, we get some pretty massive, interdisciplinary projects done; often with many hiccups and problems, but we do get them done.
Basically, we are most productive with the Japanese. One of the reasons is that the language and culture are so alien, that the words we use, and the content of our communication are more important than the nonverbal cues. They will spend two hours reading an English message, and will understand every word.
The "face time" is used to accelerate this process and to build personal relationships, which are very important in Japanese culture.
It's always nice to boil things down into soundbytes, but humans are complex creatures.
