Remember the “Seinfeld” episode about the “close talker”?
In the episode, Elaine’s new boyfriend (played by Judge Reinhold) had a tendency to stand WAY too close to people when speaking with them. Of course, his weird behavior made everyone feel uncomfortable, and hilarity ensued. It was episode #82, in case you care.
Have you ever stopped to think about the important role of nonverbal communication in our everyday conversations? You know – gestures, facial expressions, “close talking,” physical appearance, etc. Whether we realize it or not, we often make judgments about people based not only on the words they say, but also on the “supplemental” information provided via non-verbal communication.
OK, so you probably knew that already. But when you speak to another person, I’ll bet you never realized just how important nonverbal communication really can be in the way your message is received. Consider these statistics:
For every spoken message:
- 8% of the recipient’s total “experience” comes from the actual WORDS you use.
- 37% of the recipient’s total “experience” comes from the WAY you say the words (volume, tone of voice, how the words are pronounced, level of excitement, etc.)
- 55% of the total “experience” comes from nonverbal communication.
Amazing! You can spend all day crafting the perfect message – but the recipient will miss out on 55% of your message if he/she thinks your breath stinks of the garlic from the pizza you ate an hour ago.
So – knowing what you now know, you would think that communication over the Internet is practically worthless, right? If Internet communication strips things like tone of voice, and there’s no nonverbal communication, then all our customers receive is a measly 8% of what we REALLY want to say! Why do we even BOTHER with this Internet garbage? How can you possibly live with yourself, Josh, telling us that the Internet is a valuable sales tool?
You could think all that, but you’d be wrong.
The Internet offers an interesting way to reclaim the lost 55% of communication. How? With a quick reply to customers’ email.
A speedy reply sends a powerful nonverbal message to a customer! Think about it: if you were on a web site and emailed a question to a great big corporation (or even a small business), and then someone returned your email within minutes, wouldn’t you be impressed? (For proof, don’t miss the next edition of MAILbytes.)
When a customer believes that someone is literally waiting for their email on the other end, they’ve received a powerful, nonverbal message. So rescue your 55% - and start sending your own power-packed messages today!
Just make sure not to stand too close to your computer when typing the email.
