On Thursday night, as my son was filling up his water jug before practice, the thing we all never like to see happened....my cell phone on the counter took a bath! It is interesting to me to think about the progression I have gone through in my career with communication devices. I went from using a pay phone a few times a day to call in and check messages, to a pager, to the flip phone. I then progressed to the hottest new idea at the time, the Nextel push to talk ( awful coverage!), to my first smart phone, the Blackberry (which I really made me better at my job!).I then progressed to the multiple versions of smart phones followed by the real high tech IPhone to now the Droid. With each advancement in technology, I am able to do more from the road, but when they break, I find myself dead in the water. This is due to the realization that with cell phone use, it's hard to know anyone's phone numbers anymore!
While I can check my messages remotely, the one thing that really became obvious to me on Friday, is how much I use text messaging to communicate with customers. While guys used to comment, "you're like a high school girl" with texting, it is funny how it has become more and more prevalent. Sure many things can't be taken care of in a quick text, but the lack of interruption and ability to respond when you want, seems to work well in our business. In the end, nothing is better than personal interaction, but just as modes of communication has evolved, so has the way we communicate.
WJC
