Methods of communicating with one another are constantly changing. Instant gratification and instant contact has taken over. Because of e-mail, texting, tweeting, and the growing list of other social networking options, we no longer have to wait for anything! This is all fine, wonderful, and efficient; however, we have lost some of the personalization from the past. Additionally, businesses have to be concerned with how they stand out among the plethora of these electronic messages their clients receive each day.

Regardless of the method of communication you use, be sincere with your message. Clients can see right through when you’re not, and quite frankly, they won’t take the time to read your message. “Delete” is an easy key to push when moving from one email (or tweet) to the next, so be genuine to avoid getting added to the trash.

Put thought into your message and reference something specific you’ve talked about with the client to personalize your communication.

Send that electronic message…and follow up with a handwritten note. Personalization and “effort” will set you apart.

Better yet…pick up the phone! Leave a message if you must. Even if the client never calls you back, you’ve left a message in their mind that they matter.

Personalizing communications can be effortless and will absolutely have the greatest impact to your bottom line.

Samantha Hawkins

The Dutch proverb, “Measure twice, cut one,” is wise advice, but only if followed. Yet, so many in business give all of one nanosecond to plan before cut, cut, cut. Then, when their efforts don’t pan out, they’re reduced to revising and reworking.

Here’s the problem. We know that life moves fast, that competitive advantage is lost if we move too slowly. So we treat speed of execution as a virtue, and often demean planning and thinking as the domain of plodders. “Fail to act and the world will pass you by,” we say, so we do before we think the plan through.

There is a place for quick execution, but it’s only when we have high confidence of success. To act quickly without understanding the implications can be signs of imprudence and arrogance. And those traits will doom your chance to succeed.

The other issue with behaving reactively is paying the toll of opportunity costs. In these lean times when staffs are stretched thin, businesses can ill afford to do work twice. Not only do you pay for the waste, you lose the opportunity to tackle the next critical item on your to do list.

So when the din of “cut, cut, cut” rings in your ears, take a deep breath and measure a second time.

Dave Wesley