Digital body language

Here’s a fun fact: 75% of our communication is based on body language, but 70% of our communication in the workplace takes place online - and that’s in a normal situation!

Avoiding miscommunications

How we speak with customers, employees, and stakeholders can be difficult enough in person - but when we shift to digital communication, it can get even trickier. When we’re shooting emails and texts back and forth, it’s important to make sure that our messaging has meaning.

When we’re speaking in person, it can be easier to understand ambiguous statements based on tone and body language. Without body language, it’s important to break things down and keep them clear!

Do your communications acknowledge previously received messages, your response, and suggested next steps? If you’re speaking to potential customers, for examples, recapping your previous conversations in a sentence or two can help them quickly orientate themselves. For instance, instead of sending:

“Hello John, are you still interested in going ahead with your purchase?”

Send:

“Hello John, this is Amy from the Gardening Company - last week we had a brief conversation about you purchasing some gardening tools for your landscaping project, and that you wanted to finalize this week. How can I best support you in doing so?"

Without including context or a call to action, emails and texts can go unanswered and lost - or simply misunderstood. With the average office employee receiving over 100 emails a day, making your outreach as simple to understand as possible is essential.

Ensuring we use the right tone

Sending messages in all capital letters can be confusing - are you angry? Were you simply typing too fast? Adding a smiley emoji when it isn’t suitable could make you sound sarcastic instead of empathetic. Ending a sentence with … could leave your intended meaning up in the air.

It’s important to always assume the people you’re speaking to have the best intent, so if something can be interpreted in different ways, ask. This can avoid conflict and make communication smoother.

While it can be easy to quickly send messaging without proof reading it, it’s important to take a moment to reread phrasing to avoid misleading or hurting others feelings. In some cases, a quick ‘ok’ is enough - for instance, if someone on your team is letting you know they’ll be five minutes late to a call.

But in cases where employees or customers have reached out for information or clarity, take the time to write out a proper message - this shows that you value them, and that they’re important to you. This message doesn’t need to be long - a simple concise sentence or two can be adequate, but make sure to include all the information that is relevant.

Respecting time zones and preferences

If you’re working late at night, it can be tempting to shoot out emails after dinner - but you could unintentionally be making people feel stressed or annoyed. Always be aware of what others might be up to - think of their time zones, calendars, or status - ie, if they’re on holiday or not.

It might also be appropriate to send regular customers simple text confirmations of orders, whereas new customers might need longer emails with instructions and clarifications. Depending on your relationship with the recipient, make sure to tailor the content of your message, when you send it, and which format you use.

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By proof-reading your emails, adding context, being clear and concise, using the right platform and monitoring your tone you can speed up processes, strengthen relationships and boost productivity. Now more than ever, how we communicate via digital methods is essential.

How are you ensuring your customers feel heard via text and email?

- Lena Klein