The power of an email

Email. What does that word conjure up for you? For me, I often say it’s a blessing and a curse. When I started working, there was no email. We used the phone, faxes and pagers. It was somewhat of an idyllic existence now that I look back on it. I was generally able to focus on the matter at hand because there were only two possible channels of interruption: a physical person talking to me and the phone ringing. I didn’t have a pager since I wasn’t a doctor or field technician.

Now we have email. Lots of email. So much email. We run the risk of becoming irritated by email, especially when we get tons from lead gen companies who keep pestering us, “Quick Question” “Michael?” “Bumping this up”. Ugh. If we start attaching negative feelings to email, we might forget how powerful a single email can be.

The other day I got an unsolicited email from a woman telling me about a new webcam concept that should be great for coaches. Really? I took a look at it and by golly, it could be a good thing. It has a little camera on an arm that drops down to about the upper third of your monitor screen so you can truly look at the person you’re coaching… and the camera! I bought it. Based on one email.

It gets better. I have had it on my mind to reach out to a person I did business with a few years ago. We had a great relationship that lasted about a year. He then decided to take a job as a senior leader in an organization on the east coast. We talked a few times after he started but we never got any other business going. Then, we drifted apart. Or did we?

I decided to honor that voice in my head and send an email to Jonah (not their real name) and ask explicitly if we could meet to talk about doing business together in the new year. Jonah replied fairly soon and agreed that we should meet. We met before too long and we ended by confirming that we might start with a 30k project. It’s now on me to send him some info to get things moving along. It’s not a guarantee that we’re going to do this business in 2024, but it’s a much greater likelihood than before I sent that one email.

I followed that email up with another one to a person with whom I’d also drifted apart from. I never really understood why, but thought, “I must have done something. Maybe that last project didn’t go as well as I thought.” I sent the email anyway. Shawn (not their real name) didn’t write back soon. That confirmed for me that we had drifted apart, and I had somehow disappointed him in the past. A few more days go by and Shawn writes back! He apologized for the slow reply and said we’d drifted apart because he’s been slammed. He would like to work together again and will talk to the CEO about a possible project.

Again, if I had not sent that one email, nothing would be in the offing for 2024.

Who should you send one email to? It just might rekindle your belief in the power of email. It’s still got it.

Market your services well! I have one process I like to follow that helps me position myself and services in a positive and productive way. Read my other article, “Learn one of my key marketing processes.”

Contact me if you have follow-up questions or would like to talk about your coaching business and how to develop it.

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