Digital Communication Lost in Translation

Have you found lately a general decline in the usage of the telephone? How do you generally interact with your teams? Do you use the phones or digital communication of some sort? Do you see your internet requests equaling or overtaking your phone requests for information about your apartments? There is little doubt that the world continues to shift towards the digital direction so it is up to us to make sure our communication etiquette is up to par.

The challenge is writing in such a way that there can leave little room for doubt about the contents meaning. How many times have you had a confrontational situation over an email that completely got lost in translation? Have you ever lost out on a potential internet prospect over a less than subpar email response? This is where it becomes critical to continually educate ourselves in the etiquette and emotional side of our digital communication.

Phone calls are easy to interpret. Even if the wording does not come out right the emotional inflection in the tone of voice usually speaks for itself. You do not have that luxury in the digital world so it behooves us to be that much more careful. Proper training is so key and also regular reminders are crucial if we are to keep a solid professional atmosphere in our digital communication. Here are a few tips to consider:

Read your communication out loud before you send it.

For extremely important communications have someone else read it for you before sending

Training directors should keep samples of various communications and use them for training purposes

Watch how you use CAPS and punctuation. CAPS typically denote anger and exclamation points can do the same as well if not used properly.

For prospective residents make sure your spelling and grammar are exceptional and your content is creative.

Don’t write a communication in an emotionally compromising state.

If you have any other tips please share them in the comment section below. As we continue to advance in this digital age unfortunately much of the human element has been taken away. However with proper education and continual reminders we can be assured that our communication within our apartment communities and within our corporate structure will only continue to improve. So take a moment and reflect on the effort you put into your digital communication and do your best not to compose content that can easily get lost in translation.

Written by Jonathan Saar

Courses available in relation to this topic: Business Etiquette , Internet Leasing-You’ve Got Email

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