SELECT THE RIGHT MEDIUM

We began the last millennium in unity and ended it in isolation. At the turn of the twentieth century, people gathered in town halls to talk politics, went to the theater to watch silent movies, heard news from the same few radio broad casts, bought gifts and tools at the general store, read
about new trends from the same monthly magazines, and studied all subjects in the same classroom.

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, we talk politics in virtual chat rooms, select our movies for home viewing from any of 500 television stations or the corner video-rental shop, buy our gifts and tools from the paper or online catalog, hear our news on television while in the
bathroom, read about new trends while in Latvia with our laptop connection to the Internet, and study our online courses at home alone at midnight.

In such a world of emotional disconnection, there's a growing sense of discontent. Customers and coworkers long to be treated as special, important individuals. An automated tracking system that responds to our log-on with "Hi, Bob. Welcome back. The last time you visited, you ordered X" does not exactly leave us with a warm, fuzzy feeling. It has been a long time since having our name inserted in the middle ofa directmarketing letter impressed us.

In an age of impersonal "customization," customers and clients want personal communication. They want a live person to send them an individual e-mail with an answer to their specific question or a suggestion for their specific problem. To confirm the phenomenon, you have only to take a look at your mailbox to see how many chain letters, jokes, and inspirational stories and poems get forwarded to you by friends, coworkers, and customers.

These are attempts to say" Let's connect. Let'sshare a laugh or a tear. Is any, bodyoutthere? Do youremember me?'

The e-mail, letter, or proposal writers who can make a positive emotional connection with their writing will win coworkers' and customers' attention, business, goodwill, and loyalty.