Today’s Advances Create a New Technical Difficulty

Standing near the hors d’oeuvres at a business event, I hold onto my mini-plate of food and scan the crowd for someone to talk to. Suddenly, I hear someone call my name from across the room. As my head turns, I see a lady fervently waving at me as she hurries over.

I scan my mental Rolodex. I have no idea who this woman is, but with the smile on her face and the excitement in her step, it is obvious she knows me. As she comes closer, I brace myself, keeping a look of eager expectation as if she were a long lost friend. My hand extends for the handshake, my mouth opens, and my loud, drawn out “Hello!” is suddenly cut off mid-syllable as she shifts her gait to swerve around me. With open arms, she greets and hugs the man standing directly behind me.

My stomach hits the floor, embarrassed and disappointed that the happy greeting wasn’t meant for me. Even though I didn’t know her, I have to admit that I was a little excited for the anticipated arrival of such a pleasant and personal welcome. After all, nothing is sweeter than a little attention and the sound of one’s own name.

In this technologically advanced business world, we have allowed our gadgets and gizmos impair us. We are lazy and impersonal, automating everything simply because we can. Have we completely forgotten the power of a warm greeting, a genuine smile, and a firm handshake?

It is not the technology itself that has created our cold business environment, but rather our infantile understanding of how to use it. Instead of using technology to enhance our connections with one another, we have allowed it to act as a replacement, adding space between ourselves and our customers. We let our websites automatically welcome our newest leads, our virtual receptionists filter our personal calls, and our Blackberries limit our written communication to the stretch of our shortest finger.

Those who are the next generation of business leaders know that there must be, and will be a dramatic return to personalization. The future of business communication is an amalgam of new technology and good, old-fashioned business etiquette. We shouldn’t shun technology nor readily use it just because we can. We must learn to use it deliberately and with purpose. That purpose is to help us achieve the one thing that has been and will always be the heart of all business – human connection.

Let technology help you, not do the work for you. For instance, your website is probably your most valuable salesperson; treat it just like another employee. Keep it up-to-date on the latest changes in your business and make it an avenue for customers to reach you. Your website can be a very effective form of communication when it helps your customers connect with you in a way that is comfortable and convenient for them.

If you have a virtual assistant, fire it. Replace it with technology that instantly finds a live person for the customer to talk to. Personal service is one of the major advantages small businesses have. Don’t throw that away for the sake of using technology because you can or because you think it will give you a more professional image. Being professional has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of money you spend in high-tech answering systems. It is about doing what is best for your customer, and making it easy for them to reach you when they need you.

No matter how technologically advanced we become, nothing will ever replace the power of simple human exchanges. They make us light up from the sound of our own name, the stretch of an extended hand and the smile of even an unfamiliar face. Connections like these never grow old, and will be the life of all business for ages to come.