There are many obvious options companies have to stay in touch with their customers.

The Personal Call, Phone Calls, Letters, E-Mails, Company Newsletters are but a few that come to mind. Some that aren’t readily apparent are the birthday reminder, holiday greeting cards and gifts. Other opportunities include social gatherings, lunch-and- learns and seminars and the now popular webinars.

Let’s dissect the most popular from the above list.

The Personal Call. Perhaps the most direct option, but with its limits. First, an appointment should be made. Very few businesspeople really are “ready” to meet you at your convenience. It’s usually “when you’re in the area”, not when they’re looking for you, and often times the client misinterpret The Personal Call as an interruption, done on your terms, at your convenience… not theirs. So, if you’re going to opt for The Personal Call, certainly have the foresight and courtesy to call ahead. Your customer will respect and appreciate you for it, and you’ll save yourself the chances of missing your contact point. Remember, they’re rarely in, or available, when it’s opportune for you. And The Personal Call is usually the most expensive of the available options.

The Phone Call, like the Personal Call, is most certainly always made at your convenience, not theirs. Calls are good, but rarely well timed. But the upside is, if they’re receptive to taking your call, you get the personal contact we all strive to achieve and you generally get a captive audience. Downfalls again include the reality that it’s usually hard to catch the customer in “the right moment”, or if they are available, are they receptive, or are you pegged as being overbearing? Rarely is any business person “ready” and in the proper mindset to field your call.

The Personal Letters are good, comfortable and can be read at the convenience of the customer. The inherent advantage of the letter is its personal-touch appeal that is so necessary in today’s impersonal business world. One of the problems with The Personal Letter is expense, time, and each letter has to have the personal touch to adapt to its appropriateness. Another problem is that it’s hard to extend its identity to more than one main subject, or item of interest. It becomes awkward to approach a diversity of subjects with the letter format. The characteristics of The Personal Letter simply make it a rather restrictive medium to capture a broader reach of emotions.

The E-Mails are E-Mails are E-Mails. The business world has had enough. They’re great to shout out for immediate calls to actions issues, clarifications, quick questions, etc. But as a regular outreach that gets any attention anymore considering today’s more sophisticated business person, the E-Mail will simply not get the job done. It is too easily dismissed, and will not command the attention you need to generate. The E-Mail certainly has its time, place and general merits, but not for regular, timely and appropriate outreach.

The Electronic Newsletter certainly is preferable over no communiqué at all. However, like The E- Mail, The Electronic Newsletters can, and usually is discarded with a simple stroke of the delete button or click of a mouse, and rarely gets opened. Although this electronic medium costs you nothing to send, the results are usually extremely disappointing. And, you still must compose it, edit it, format it, write it, and design it and all that takes time and effort. So don’t be misled into thinking that it is FREE, because it’s not. The old adage that “you get what you pay for” never is far from wrong. The electronic medium was certainly more viable in the past, but those days appear to be behind us as more and more clients are looking to get their hands on something bearing substance again

The Printed Newsletter has many distinct advantages. It’s real, reader-friendly (easier on the eyes), proven to be more eye catching and captivating, (provided graphic design and copywriting are effective) more dynamic, easy to put aside and pick up at the leisure of the reader, easier to mark and highlight topics of interest, and the list goes on. In short, The Printed Newsletter will get the sender more mileage and bang for their buck than any other tool available. Additionally, there is nothing intrusive or foreboding about them, and, when well done, provide just the right punch to touch all the bases or regular contact. Quite simply The Printed Newsletter gets the entire job done, all of the time. When compared to the alternative methods and corresponding results, they prove to be the most cost effective. Couple this with their inherent shelf life, and likelihood of being passed around, or filed for future reference, The Printed Newsletter easily surpasses all the other options. The downside is composition, graphics and management mechanics all have to be lined up perfectly to deliver just the right flavor and impact.