So far we’ve talked about WHEN to reach out to a professional contact and HOW to modify your notifications so they work for you. This week, we will chat about HOW to reach out. In a future segment, we can chat about a phone call vs. an electronic message. Today, however, let’s chat about what type of message we send.

So, to text or email? Interesting question… You may ask what the difference is. While it may not seem so on the surface, the difference is substantial. 

Prior to getting into golf full time, I worked in cellular communications. I was working in that industry as cellular phones became a thing. Yes, I had a cell phone in the 1980’s. I got rid of my home phone in the mid 90’s. I remember when cell phones branched out to be more than something that you just talked on. They came up with this thing called SMS (short messaging system) that was the first way to text (and is still the platform today). These were limited in the number of characters they could send and were designed to be a more efficient way to tell someone something that wasn’t urgent, and save them from being bothered by a phone call. It might be worth re-reading that sentence. 

Ok, know it all, what’s the difference? Haha. Both send a message to a person – who cares how they get it? In short, I do, and so should you. 

A text, as we just learned, is a short message. Email, on the other hand, is the only accepted form of electronic communication in the business world. Email is more formal and significantly more secure. Email has a better record of sent and received and is more above board for any business dealings. You can search sent emails, file them away for later referral, and use them as a running “to do” list. 

Imagine sending a text to your broker to initiate a stock trade. Or get documents from your mortgage broker by text. No chance. Send your tax documents to your accountant in a picture by text?? LOL, I hope not!! Would you text a potential employer about a new job? You better not!! This is all done by email.  As a guideline, if it’s business related – send an email. If it’s not business related, and you can’t say it in a couple sentences, email is more appropriate. In short, ALL professional contact should be done by email. If it’s business related, it should be via a work email to/ from a work email.  

Corporate America uses email. Callaway Corporate HQ uses Email exclusively. Every company uses email. If the person you are sending something MAY have to involve or interact with someone else in a corporate setting, your best bet when initiating the communication is to do so with an email. If you send someone a text message about something work related, and that person has to ask someone at their corporate office, they will have to ask by telephone or by email – no exceptions on their end. This goes back to the recipient of your message – Think about the recipient before you hit send.

Differentiate them this way:

·         If you want someone to DO something that is work related or tell them something work related send me an email.

·         If you want to tell them something (about something they don’t have to do anything for or is not work related), AND this person is a friend, a text is OK.

·         If you’re not sure, send an email.

The bottom line:

Text is for chats and funnys. Email is for business.

Imagine if you could have all your “chats and funnys” in one place (text), all your personal business stuff in one place, and all your business stuff (business emails) in another place? Talk about being organized!! Last week we talked about setting up notifications that work for your schedule. Imagine being able to turn off your work email in the evening and not get work emails when you’re not working. If you separate work and personal on your device(s) and then change how YOU use the platforms, you can do this!! While you may not care, others might, so following this protocol is your best bet.

I use a work email, a personal email, and text messages. It makes it easy to split them up by times of day, types of senders, and types of communication. For example, do you have one catch-all email address, so your fantasy football notifications, your cable bill notifications, and messages from your members and GM all go to one place? Sounds laughable, but I see this. If this is you, do yourself a favor and add a personal email account to filter out all of your personal email. This is a major step in decluttering your digital life – remember, “When it’s time to work, you work. When it’s time to play, you play.”

Let’s continue with the best applications for a text messages and emails. The only text messages that should be sent for work are things like “I’m running late”, “Are you around if I stop by?” “Do you have time for a call?” etc. These messages are in lieu of a phone call. If you have a joke to send – send a text. Funny story? Send a text. Business question?? Send an EMAIL. Questions like “Where’s that driver I ordered?” or “What’s my cost on…?” or here’s a picture of the logo for our member guest or something along those lines should be emailed. Why? Why does it matter?? Because your recipient MAY have to interact with someone at corporate to get your answers. If they do, it will be done via email. That, or a phone call is their ONLY option. So, when you communicate with someone in the business world, like me – even though we’re friends, and we text about other things, email is almost always the preferred platform for work related things. 

The standard protocol is to respond the same way you received a message, so a text in should get a text back, email in is email back. If a text message is sent and your recipient doesn’t have the answer, that person can’t text anyone at Corporate HQ. That means if you text someone something business related, most of the time they have to copy, paste, email, get a reply, copy, paste back into a text message and resend to you. If you email, they can forward, and then reply to you with the answer (easier to do while on the road). Personally, if I have to look something up, it is NOT on my phone – it will be on my laptop. If you have a Mac and an iPhone, you get text messages in both places. I don’t. We use Windows laptops, so text messages are only delivered to my phone. Emails are delivered to both places.

Ever notice that my responses back to you are sometimes slower at one time or another? It may actually depend on the format you use to contact me. Email to email is quicker. Text that has to be copied to email and then re copied back to text requires that I have time and focus to deal with it. Since I drive 50,000 miles per year, I am very proficient at voice commands on my phone. One thing I can’t do via voice is copy a message or text. As my day progresses, your message may get pushed down my list because it’s more difficult for me to work with it.

One last thing – even if I don’t have to reach out to corporate to do something with your message (say you send me a fitting sheet and I have to enter the order in). Consider the recipient (me, in this case). I don’t have order entry on my phone. I have (2) 24″ monitors on my desk. How easy is it to read a fitting sheet on an iPhone screen vs. a 24″ monitor? As with the time of day that you send a message, consider the person you are sending to – Ask yourself “can this person do what I need him/ her to do with the information I am sending on the platform I am sending on? Is this the easiest platform for him or her to work with this request?” If the answer is maybe no, select a different platform. 

When you go to send a message to someone. It makes no difference to YOU if you send a message via email or a text message – the number of characters you types is exactly the same. To the recipient, however, it matters because how they treat or deal with that message will matter based on what they have to do with it. As a final suggestion – if you are not proficient in text messages AND email, you should be. Spend the time. If you don’t have email on your phone (if that’s your preferred device to communicate on – you should have it. Email is a universal platform for business, and is always OK.