Comments on: Isn’t the Telephone a Social Media Tool?

By: Michael J. Maher

Michael J. Maher — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:44:25 +0000

Have you ever e-mailed over a contract to only lose the client?

Have you ever used e-mail to update your client on a weekly basis only for them to tell you on your feedback form that your communication is “poor”?

Ever written an e-mail that could be printed out on more than one page?

I love this article. Are we defining “social media” or are we talking about what works? As one comment said, it is back to basics. The only problem is that many people never started at the basics. E-mail has already peaked. The Generation Y doesn’t even use it. They text. Look for my book: The Seven Levels of Communication: From Relationships to Referrals coming this Fall. I explore tried-and-true ways to raise your level of communication to retain and attract perfect clients.

Great blog John! I still have The Referral Flood on my bookshelf (with post-it notes marking my favorite places).

Michael

http://www.TheMaherTeam.com

http://www.MaherProfile.com (130+ recommendations here)

http://www.KCREU.com

By: David Marx

David Marx — Wed, 28 May 2008 05:40:48 +0000

The telephone is ultimately one of the oldest and best known social media tools. It has of late been eclipsed by the buzz surrounding social media on the internet, however it’s value as a business tool can not ever be underestimated.

By: Splinter09

Splinter09 — Tue, 27 May 2008 11:35:18 +0000

I agree that the telephone is social media tool, but you have to agree that is an old, is much easier to post your articles or products in social media sites than pick up the phone and call everyone in your phone book to tell them about your new article or product.

By: John Gillett

John Gillett — Fri, 23 May 2008 21:32:07 +0000

With the advent of unified communications, virtually all communication mediums may be considered social media tools.

By: John Jantsch

John Jantsch — Fri, 23 May 2008 18:07:39 +0000

@Patty – you missed the point entirely, probably due to the emotion you felt in making your point, but just the other day I was on the phone with close 1000 people, all of whom were sharing and making comments.

By: Patty

Patty — Fri, 23 May 2008 17:38:00 +0000

Wrong, wrong, wrong as can be. The telephone is NOT social media because it’s one-person-only talking to one-person-only. It doesn’t allow multiple parties to participate (in most cases), it cannot be shared, commented on, or generate discussions about the discussion itself.

By: Marketing Integrity

Marketing Integrity — Thu, 22 May 2008 02:07:26 +0000

We have become so reliant on using technology to interact with our customers that we have lost sight of how much more personal the phone is. I experienced that today myself and just wrote a post about a similar issue.

We have encouraged our customers to not call us by implementing voice automated phone systems and our reps are conditioned to e-mail before they call. If we could take the extra 10 seconds to pick up the phone and call our customers, unbelievably we would be miles ahead of our competition!

By: skribe Forti

skribe Forti — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:40:18 +0000

It’s that old bane, jargon, again. The tech-savvy use it a lot and often leave Joe and Jane Public scratching their heads thinking it’s all too hard. BTW, phones are not only a good example of social media they’re a good example of a virtual environment. If Gartner’s prediction proves to be correct that maybe the next buzzword Joe and Jane Public will have to wrap their heads around. Goody goody!