Text Gets Quick Answers for Business

I recently spoke to a friend who said she needed to compile answers to a business question in a short period of time for a project. She sent an email to a wide list of business associates and colleagues and explained the urgency, "you can answer this on your smartphones," her message suggested. She got a handful of responses back, but maybe she would have gotten more responses to a "quick" question if she sent a text to those contacts.

A survey of Line2 customers found that 33 percent of business professionals text each other to get quick answers to simple questions. This method gets better responses than email and phone calls. "Voice calls remain important for detailed business conversations, but for quick answers people just can't be boethered with a phone call; the greeting, the small talk, the chit chat," says Peter Sisson, CEO of Line2. "Texting allows the sender to deliver 'the meat' of the message quickly and get a speedy response."

An email easily gets buried, but a text screams for a quick answer. This means simple questions such as setting up a meeting, following up on a memo or something answerable without stopping the task currently on an employee's desk. Brevity is required.

Texting to discuss the finer points of a presentation is not appropriate. Texting to confirm one of those points is more acceptable.

If the question or the answer requires more than a moment's thought, an email or a conversation is a better platform. Texts have a character limit, but that doesn't mean you should push that limit. Ask the question and get back to work.