Hello Everyone,
being a marketing Student, I have to take a module known as, “Direct and Online Marketing”. And in this module, we learn about the various tools [especially social media] we can use to reach out to our prospective clients and to be creative when designing marketing campaigns. One very good example of a direct marketing tool is the Short Messaging System [commonly known as the SMS]. Frankly speaking, whenever I receive SMS-es now, I either choose one of the following two actions, I read and delete OR I don’t read and delete. This has become more of a habit for me because more often than not, I receive SMS-es from the telco, some educations institutions, and etc. to promote their services. Well, what happens if I receive SMS-es from a friend? Then it all depends oh how close I am with that person because everyone has varying social circles [those whom are more important and those whom requires urgent attention]. But if day in day out I receive similar SMS-es to go for a particular activitity/event, I call it SPAM because it makes no difference whether or not they are sent by companies or friends.

Not just SMS-es but the same goes for phone calls with private numbers. How many of you often receive phone calls from insurance companies, banks, and etc. only to hear the tele-marketer go on and on about the new products and services they are inviting you to be a part of? Seriously, whenever I receive a missed call [private number] on my phone, the only people whom I would call back and check who left the miss call would be my parents and relatives. If businesses are really sincere about reaching out to prospective clients, their numbers shouldn’t be made private. In fact, their numbers should be made public so that people could give them a call back to find out what they have been missing out on.

If you’re seeking to improve your relational skills, the following might be useful:

To connect with people, you need to be sincere and when it boils down to sincerity, you first need to know what the person really needs or what he/she is thinking about. Don’t go on and on about what you can provide and offer when the person may in fact not require what you can offer! Only when you really know what he/she is thinking about can you then offer your most sincere thoughts and opinions.  When a person tells you something, keep it personal unless you have sought permission to share it with someone whom is be able to help. Not only that, listen and remember well because you don’t want to be caught in a situation where the person have to repeat him/her self again [this shows whether you are really genuine about wanting to connect with the person]. Follow up with a phone call to find out how he/she is coping and whether any additional assistance be required [a phone call is more personal than emails or SMS-es].

Easy as it seems but really, connecting with people takes time and it is important that this be done genuinely else there won’t be room for trust to exist [which is essential in the long-term].