Recommended Do’s and Don’ts for Successfully Communicating via Email with Business Consulting Clients
By Mark Williams
Successful
communication with clients is critical to any business consulting
firm’s success. The only thing that matters is that we convey data, our
findings, and recommendations efficiently and in a manner that makes
our clients successful. As younger generations enter executive roles,
communicating by text or other more modern methods will expand. But for
doing business today, while the average age of corporate chief
executives is the early 50’s, email remains a primary work horse for
client communication.
Email Use
Email has been one of the greatest value-adds for consulting practices. Currently, email provides a rapid method of conveying messages and notes along with documents and drawings and even transcribed messages. It is not uncommon for my consulting team to send and receive thousands of emails during a consulting assignment. For my firm’s consulting practice, email provides the ability to react to client questions and concerns quickly or review documents regardless of whether I’m in my office, in Tokyo, or on my dock.
Using Email Do’s and Don’ts
Even though email is extremely useful for business communication, it does have some critical limitations. The following are a few recommendations for email use:
Do:
• Be Succinct
Keep emails short and to the point.
• Communicate Victories
Use emails to communicate good news and successful accomplishments of your client and consulting team.
• Use Email Records to Stay Organized
Use email filing to organize project communications, documents, and data.
Don’t:
• Send Emails That Could Surprise or Embarrass Your Client
Voice communication is often the best way to communicate concerns or
obtain interactive feedback before a recordable communication is sent. Often emails without copies are useful for this purpose.
• Put Questionable Information in an Email
Don’t put anything in an email that would concern you if it were
distributed to a broader audience. Emails should be strictly
professional. All emails can be forwarded and re-forwarded.
• Use Email When Other Forms of Communication are More Appropriate
For example, email is generally not the best method to deliver bad news
to a client. If bad news must be delivered, then it is often best to
first call directly before sending an email notification.
Texting may also be more appropriate in circumstances that require more
immediate notice than email provides. For example, if you are on a
conference call with a client and need to deliver them a specific
message quickly during the call you may consider sending them a text.
• Distribute Emails Too Broadly
If you want your clients to pay attention to your email communications,
don’t send superfluous information that will cause review that wastes
your client’s precious time. Routinely sending emails to broad
distribution lists or “responding to all” too frequently is not a good
business practice.
• Delay in Responding
Emails, like other forms of electronic and voice correspondence, should
be responded to as soon as possible with one business day being the
longest response time.
I expect new technology and emerging executives will lead to new and
better methods of communicating with clients. Like the use of email,
there will remain important business protocols for using new
communication technologies. It is also likely that elements of older
communication methods will also retain their value in certain
circumstances. Even today, it doesn’t hurt from time to time to send a
client a hand-written note. Imagine that!
Mark William is, President of Strategic Development Group, Inc., a
firm that specializes in site selection and negotiation for large
manufacturing and headquarters facilities. Strategic Development Group
has conducted projects across the U.S. and has significant experience
with both U.S. and foreign clients.
