I recently found myself in a conversation with a woman who was in charge of redoing the website for her company, an electrical distributor. At one point she explained how they were not offering email contact information on the new site, no change from their current site. The company’s decision was based on their desire to suggest (force?) people to pick up the phone and call them.

As I had just met her and we are in casual conversation, I refrained from commenting, but I couldn’t help thinking about how darn limiting this mindset was.

The truth is though, it’s a pretty common justification and not only concerning just providing email, but also not using any form of social media outreach whatsoever.

To some extent, I can see the line of thought behind this decision.  When you’re in more traditional industries – ones that rely primarily on contact via phone and have not yet shifted to other forms of communication – there’s a tendency to fear change in terms of how relationships can be developed and managed (we won’t even get into the general stigmas around using email and social networks in this context, as that’s certainly a big barrier for many).

Additionally, if you’re part of a long supply chain, there’s a reliance on long-term relationships, and there’s an understanding that they’re built with the blood, sweat and tears from in-person and phone contact. Connecting digitally or using social media platforms is usually considered to be impersonal and definitely can’t foster long-term strong relationships.  Right?

Wrong. This mindset needs to change and it needs to change quickly.  Here’s why.

It doesn’t consider the long-term process of building relationships.
Just as people value the above mentioned long-term relationships, they’re forgetting that they’re just that, long-term.  Each of those usually involved several points of contact, a mix of different methods of outreach (is a fax more personal than an email?), and an ongoing strengthening of the relationship.  They didn’t occur just because someone called.  They occurred because an opportunity presented itself and it was nurtured over time.  So to have someone’s first point of contact be a phone call or an email is rather inconsequential, wouldn’t you say?  It’s the effort you put into the whole process that will make or break the relationship.

It’s a missed opportunity to offer an easy way for customers to reach you, and an easier way for you to address smaller issues.
Essentially, you’re shutting off entire channels of communication for both current and potential customer to reach you.  Did you hear that?  ENTIRE CHANNELS.  That translates into straight numbers.  You’re losing potential leads.  Period. Some people just plain want to email at first.  Would you rather they request a quote from four other competitors that allow them to do so quickly on their website and not request one from you because you made it difficult?

Additionally, some current customers, the ones you already have a relationship with, and the ones whose lives you want to make as easy as possible, might find it so much easier to just contact you via email, or bop you a message on Twitter or something.  Why would you want to force anyone to call you every time they need something?

This choice ignores strategic thinking.
To take these points a little further, by dismissing the opportunity without considering how you might handle a digital point of contact is really taking the easy way out.  But easy isn’t always best.  Using the above example, let’s say you were deciding whether to start using Twitter as a way to get quote requests.  This doesn’t end up being a a one-step process.  It isn’t as easy as “but that means they won’t call.”  What are your plans after you get a request?  You could just as easily nurture direct phone contact by having your salesforce follow-up with a phone call (step-by-step option: direct message the person, thanking them for the quote and requesting a phone number to reach them at… then pick up the phone and call).  There’s absolutely truth in the power of human voice in customer relationships, but thinking that it’s one or the other just isn’t logical.  Since the whole process is several steps, you can still have your cake and eat it too.

It’s doing nothing to enhance your website.
Your SEO or your inbound traffic will not benefit from people just having to pick up the phone.  You want people to interact with your site, use your forms, get there from your Facebook page.  You want inbound links out there, directing people to your website.  If you’re in the “phone only” mentality, it likely also means you’ve limitations on your site as a whole, discouraging people from using it as a tool.

It’s backwards thinking.
Sorry to be blunt, but you just wouldn’t be thinking progressively at all.  And competitors that choose to introduce digital tools into their communication and sales mix will get ahead.  They’ll be accessing people you’re not.  They’ll be getting their message in places you’re not.  Most importantly to this discussion, they’ll be nurturing points of contact and developing relationships that you’re not. Why would you allow them to do this?

So, whether it’s offering your email as a point of contact, getting on Twitter, or allowing people to interact with your company through some other new fangled digital way, don’t fight it…..