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Education

salespeople who are often in the Although words can kill deals, skilled use of words can build trust,
field). An email exchange is not convey urgency and save business relationships. When choosing a form of
comparable to a real-time con- communication, it should be objectively clear that the best way to eliminate
versation. It's also a simple way confusion and expedite results is to have a real conversation. And the best way
to avoid conversations. "I sent to accomplish that is by a phone call or in-person visit.
an email" is often an explanation
when something goes sour. A real-time conversation can address the parties' underlying motivations better
than any other form of communication. In the example I gave above, if the
• Texts. Texting is the preferred processor had phoned instead of sending an email, the discussion could have
option by a growing number of centered on why the added documentation was needed, and the response
people. I may be a contrarian, but could have been expedited. Of if the MLS had called to discuss the processor's
the primary purpose I see in us- request after receiving the email, a delay could have been avoided – and the
ing texts in business communica- deal could have been saved.
tions is when in front of a client or
customer, and a quick response Don't automatically default to whatever form of communication you prefer. If
to a basic question is needed. anything, default to the telephone. Remember, the deal you save may be your
own.
I believe texting is overused to-
day as a communication tool. It is
expected that when a text is sent Jeff Fortney is senior vice president of business development and partnerships for TouchSuite LLC,
the recipient will immediately a fintech company providing POS systems, payment processing, SEO solutions, working capital
respond. It's also expected that and marketing services to small and midsize businesses. A long-time payments industry profes-
the person receiving the text will sional and mentor, Jeff focuses on strengthening and developing corporate partnerships and eval-
understand the language and uating new business to drive strategic growth. He can be reached at jfortney@touchsuite.com.
symbols used (subtle distinctions
between some emoticons, for ex-
ample). Ultimately, between ty-
pos, symbols and abbreviations,
a text has great potential for fos-
tering confusion and error. And a
text message exchange is not the
ame as a conversation.

• Phone: The telephone is a tool
for conversation. It facilitates
neither a documentation share
nor a paper trail. In fact, unless
recorded, a phone conversation
does not create any trail. You
cannot submit a merchant appli-
cation, nor can you complete any
needed added documentation.
The phone does create a sense
of urgency, though, and is the
only form where a person's tone
is easy to discern. Emotions can
be perceived even when someone
doesn't voice them.

In emails and texts, tonality can
be implied as well as inferred
(and often the tonality the recipi-
ent infers is not what the sender
intended). This can create an ad-
verse emotional response, leading
to negative consequences. There
is typically little confusion once
a phone conversation is complete.
And a five-minute conversation
can save hours, even days.

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