Reach Out and Touch Someone

My speech booking partner had an interesting comment at lunch the other day. "It's getting to the point that people are going to be forced to get back on the phone or lose business." My first thought was "Nooooo, I hate talking on the phone." That was immediately followed by the revelation that perhaps a personal phone call is starting to stand out like a hand written thank you note.

Think about it, the sheer number of places you receive messages each day.

Here's mine on any given day where someone usually expect an answer, reply or comment:

• Email--Business account, personal account, spam filter
• Facebook Personal Page--Wall posts, comments, friend, requests, messages
• Facebook Professional Page--Wall posts, comments
• Twitter--Mentions, direct messages and retweets
• LinkedIn - Inbox, comments, recommendations
• Text messages--This by the way increases exponentially if you own a teenager
• Google Voice--Transcript is emailed, texted and then there's the new iPhone notification
• Skype--Messages, requests

With most successful people getting this amount of input each and every day, you had better do something unusual to break through the noise.

A marching band below their window? A billboard they will see on their way to work? Leave a message on all the platforms mentioned above?

Follow @FastCoLeaders for all of our leadership news, expert bloggers, and book excerpts.

Or perhaps my partner was right, you just pick up the phone and call to say hello.

Wow. What a concept.