The Spoken Word Carries More Weight Than the Written Word - for Better or Worse

If people don't pay your invoices and don't answer your e-mails and letters then you've no alternative but to telephone them.

As a collection tool, the telephone has advantages and disadvantages - and some things can go either way depending on you and the way in which you approach your debtors on the telephone.

Benefits? Telephone calls are convenient and cost-effective, can enable you to learn about complaints or payment problems at an early stage and deal with them promptly - and they can give you the advantage of surprise.

Possible disadvantages? Telephone calls are more personal, but they are only one-dimensional in nature. Body language isn't visible, so it's difficult to judge someone's real attitude or reaction to your call. Your 'friend's' real voice may sound much colder and much more abrupt than the written 'virtual voice' that you are used to - and vice versa.

Definite downsides? Telephone calls leave an incomplete personal record or no personal record at all - and the telephone can amplify negative emotions like fear, anger, or aggression.

The spoken word carries more weight than the written word - for better or worse.

Thoughtless or insensitive use of the telephone can wreck much closer relationships than the business relationships we have been talking about here. A telephone call can leave a lasting impression. If you make an excellent impression on the telephone, you can maintain a certain degree of authority in your subsequent relationships. If you make a mistake, you can create a false and disastrously damaging impression of yourself and your Company - and it's going to be very difficult to backtrack on that.

Words once spoken can't be taken back. It's easy to use the telephone carelessly. I regularly do it in my private life and regularly regret and am forgiven for it, but in business one can't afford be careless - or expect forgiveness.