Hit reply and let me know. I want to hear from you.”
While the intention of this message is well intended, having Why put me on defensive.
It felt like i needed to justify myself.
It felt my in-action had a judgement over it.
And nothing was about me. It was about the one who sent the message. “I want to hear from you.”
More importantly, my reaction came as WTF?! why would I need to give my reasons —if any at all?
Have you felt the same way?
This message could be turned around and invite, rather than command.
In your next messaging, try this instead of “why”.
- What’s impeding you…
- What’s stopping you…
- What’s making it challenging to…
- Do you need some help setting up [how to use our product]?
- Are you using our product [in this way]?
- What don’t you get yet of it? How could we help you?
It’s no rocket science.
It’ll take the pressure off your counterpart.
It’ll make your message less subjective → focusing on the things, challenges, opportunities, rather than the behavior.
And will take off the judgement of it.
Your customers, prospects and everyone else will appreciate it.
Especially you. 🙂