Textiquette

Voltaire once said, "The secret to being dull and tedious consists in our saying everything."

He may very well have been advocating texting.

Yesterday, I wrote about the need for agents to connect with their clients on their clients' terms. And that, of course, means through technology. I specifically noted the rise of Gen Y's use of texting and how the smart agent will learn how to communicate by way of their thumbs.

But texting is different than e-mail, which itself is different than writing a hand-written letter. Texting requires brevity.

As such, I thought I'd share some "textiquette" with you regarding the do's and don't's of texting your clients.

DO

• Keep it simple. A person receiving a text should be able to read it in a few seconds. Remember: the idea is to get your idea across in as few characters as possible (like Twitter).
  
  
• Keep it informal. Your English teacher won't like it, but don't worry about proper grammar when texting. Also, take use of the acronyms (LOL, etc.) and single letters and number ("2" = "to"; "u" = "you") to get your point across.
  

DON'T

• Deliver bad news via text. Bad news should be given in a less hasty manner; otherwise, you'll come off like a jerk. So no, "Sry U didn't get house" texts.
  
• Send time-sensitive texts. E-mails and phone calls are better suited for this. This is why nobody texts 911.
  

Now that you know the bestway to text, try it out for yourself. This great article that I discovered yesterday by way of Paul Chaney is an excellent entry into the world of text marketing.

Of course, having a smart phone that's simple to text with makes things a heck of a lot easier. Oh, and one more thing: get an extra ice pack for your thumbs; you'll need it.