BlackBerry Speak

Let me start by saying – I am a huge BlackBerry (or Smart Phone) proponent. Many years ago, the President of a previous employer and I tested an early BlackBerry unit. It was a 2 week trial and we would decide at the end whether to roll them out to our consultants and sales team.

During the test, coincidentally, we were both on the tarmac at the same time getting ready to fly somewhere (him coming back west and me flying east) when an angry customer email came through. Because we both had a BlackBerry, we were able to defuse a huge potential issue with our biggest customer in minutes – before our flights took off. Needless to say, we rolled out the units to our team immediately and I have been a fan ever since.

The addition of all those extra hours in the work day and the “always connected” paradigm is a two-edged sword. From a business and customer service standpoint there are few rivals to improved process and rapid response. From a management and personal time aspect, there is a new headache to control. (My wife has a collection of pictures of me in vacation spots checking my BlackBerry - Italy, London, DC. Thank God she understands me well enough to only bring it up once in a while!)

There is another downside to BlackBerry and PDA use – “BlackBerry speak”. Those of us with these addictive gadgets become so used to dealing with emails and responding on the fly that we fall into a shorthand of sorts and don’t always give BlackBerry email responses the measured thought and “fullness of words” they deserve.

There is a time to be quick and direct – and a time to provide a careful, thoughtful response. Customers appreciate a rapid response but not when it might be short to the point of sounding rude. Same thing applies with your internal team. A shoot-from-the-hip answer may meet some speed requirement but cause more problems due to its perceived tone, confusing answer, or lack of focus.

Lastly, we often find ourselves so focused on the email and response process that we forget that what might be best is a good, old-fashioned phone call. Instead of trading multiple emails and creating confusion, a quick call can go a long way to a great customer service experience.

Pick up the phone, call your best customer – or your favorite consultant – and ask them to lunch.