The first time I saw the Internet displayed was in 1995 at a Hamilton-Avnet open house for customers in the Boston area. Tom Thorsen, vice president of marketing and communications, showed me the ropes. He described an exciting method to communicate and sell products. And he was right.
Remembering that now, the Internet kind of looked like a simple PDF. It was not very interactive. I really remember the day because I could see the future as to how companies might use the system to market themselves. I sure could not imagine the explosion and impact it has had on the world... and it was really only a few years ago that the names Google, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn became ingrained in our vocabulary. Since the early to mid-1990s, I have probably sent and received 8 zillion emails.
One interesting question I have been asked a few times: How do I reach a busy executive like you? My answer: A letter. I get only a few direct mail pieces and probably one or two letters per week. I get 300+ emails a day, so old-school snail mail works, because it breaks through the noise. Send a third mailer, and you will really have me.
Avnet employees receive approximately 2 million emails per day, 87 percent of which are determined to be spam, which is filtered out by special software (thank goodness) by our IT folks. I feel like I get the 13 percent left. I sit at my computer way too long deleting emails when I should be out meeting with people or at least taking a nap. My guess is I spend 20 minutes a day deleting spam x 300 days = 100 hours... geez, two-plus weeks a year? How about you?
I shake my head when I see marketers placing too much emphasis on digital efforts. Yeah, I know it's free to send, and you can measure the analytics and ROI. What you can't measure is how many people are pissed off because you sent the damn email, or if your company name is put in the back of your potential clients' brain as a spammer. I will never understand why companies and people don't brand themselves with advertising, PR, or going to or sponsoring an event more. Maybe someone will email you or even call for more information or order something... hmm, that would be novel. In my opinion, branding does not happen sending emails.
I agree with you. Maybe it's obvious, or maybe it's irony, but I think the fact that digital communication has become so prevalent in our lives makes the 'snail-mail' medium that much more impactful.
Al, interesting you raised the issue of hand written letter over email. I posted a letter out recently to a company here in the UK, and received a quick response from the CEO. He replied me via my email address. I guess it's quicker and saves him precious time to send a reply electronically. So Al if you receive a posted mail, do you reply by posting a reply yourself in your busy schedule? Hmm, I suppose your secretary will do all of that for you?
Hi Al,
I see what you are saying. Although writing a letter on a piece of paper is perceived as old fashioned by most people, it is an effective means of communication in my opinion too. The fact that "old is not necessarily bad" is often overlooked by most people. Having said that alternatives to email are long forgotten for a number of reasons.
First of all email is free. You do not need a stamp or an envelope to send it. Although such costs are negligible, if you send 10 letters a day, they can easily add up. Also depending on how far your letters need to travel, your costs will increase relatively.
Then there is the important element of 'convenience' that comes with email. After you write your message, you simply click a couple of buttons to send it instantaneously; no stamps, no envelopes, no walk to your nearest post office. You also don't need to be constantly aware of the opening times for the post office to be able to send your letters. Email is open for business 24/7.
Email is fast. You can have an email based conversation that involves tens of messages with someone on the other side of the planet. Imagine trying to do that with conventional mail services!
People tend to (and are often expected to) do things that are fashionable and popular. For example, if you send a job application to an employer via a letter, you run the risk of coming across as a technophobe and that is not good at all. These days you need to be a technology user to be welcomed anywhere. If you don't own a website under your name, some people look at you in a funny way.
Of course, when something is popular and has a wide user base, it attracts spammers and hackers like honey attracts flies. Besides all the conveniences I mentioned above, getting hacked and spammed regularly is the price we have to pay it seems. I used to get a lot of printed spam through the door years ago. Today I don't receive any. Why? This is because the changing technology has created a very effective filter for printed spam which works like this: "If the printed stuff has arrived via post and looks colourful, just bin it!" Therefore, the spammers have changed their strategy as well. Now they bombard my inbox instead.
Talking about filters, I recommend that you use spam filters to minimise how much time you spend per day deleting spam. These filters used to be almost useless in the past but these theys they have become smarter and more effective. You can rely on them to a large extent but be sure to move spam to a different folder than thrash. Sometimes 'ham' can be filtered with the 'spam' which you want to be aware of.
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Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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