I have just been working on developing a new case study for one of my clients. Despite my best endeavours a face to face meeting with the customer failed to happen and I was left with the only option of a phone call to gather the information for the case study.
The contact was very helpful and was happy to respond to all the questions I had planned and I happily put the phone down at the end of the call. It was only when I came to write up the case study that I realised that, despite the copious notes I had taken there was something missing in the depth and quality of information I had gathered. In fact writing the case study would be quite a challenge.
What I believe was missing was the the important information that we gather, without perhaps realising it, from facial expressions, posture etc. and the ability to respond to this with further probing questions where necessary. Some of this can be detected over the phone in terms of tone of voice but it is much harder.
Clearly it is not always possible to arrange face to face meetings and emails and phone calls are the norm today. We therefore have to develop our skills in using these means of communication. However, when you really need to get to the bottom of a situation there is no substitute for a face to face meeting.
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1 comment:
With all due respect John isn't this stating the bleeding obvious? But perhaps it needs restating? A bit like people who engage in protracted email conversations when it would be quicker and simpler to pick the 'phone!
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