Read on: My website

Read time: 2 Minutes

Every email you send is a signal.

Every skipped phone call is a choice.

Every meeting you go to takes effort.

Every Slack/Teams message that pings catches your attention.

And every time you dodge the hard conversation, people notice.

There are many ways to communicate and engage with your peers, clients, and partners. How you choose to engage, whether in person, email, text, or virtually, sends a signal that can be broken down.

Was this newsletter forwarded to you?

Every time you choose convenience over connection, you're telling the other person exactly where they stand. Not with your words. With your actions.

The channel you pick is a confession. It reveals what you value, what you're willing to invest, and whether you're serious or just going through the motions. This week, we're talking about the invisible message behind every message, and why the effort you put into how you communicate might matter more than anything you actually say.

Let’s dance.

ChatGPT is a superpower if you know how to use it correctly.

Discover how HubSpot's guide to AI can elevate both your productivity and creativity to get more things done.

Learn to automate tasks, enhance decision-making, and foster innovation with the power of AI.

Download the free guide

This is vital to business development, as crazy as it sounds. Delivery is critical…and how you deliver it is paramount.

Don’t let this be an afterthought. They fire off a quick message because it's easy. They avoid the call because a thread feels safer. They skip the meeting because, honestly, who has the time?

But here's the thing: the channel you choose says more than the words you type. It tells the other person exactly where they rank.

I learned this the hard way years ago. There was a large sponsorship deal on the line, and the client had gone quiet. My instinct was to send another email. Follow up. Keep it professional. Stay in the comfort zone. Instead, we decided to pivot and do a face-to-face meeting, driving several hours to their facility.

Thirty minutes into that face-to-face meeting, I understood. There was hesitation and context I never would have caught in an email. Concerns that would have stayed buried on a call. By showing up, I signaled something no message ever could: you matter to me. And we closed the sponsorship deal a few weeks later.

The effort packed a punch in the message.

Email is easy. It's efficient. But it's also cold, and it gives the other person every reason to delay, misread, or ignore.

Phone calls add warmth, tone, and speed, but you still lose body language and full attention.

Video is better for distance, but fatigue is real, and distractions are everywhere.

In-person is the gold standard. It's inconvenient. It takes time and effort. And that's exactly why it works.

When you show up, you show you care.

The lazy path is to default to whatever's fastest for them. Not always what is right for what needs to occur between two parties. Whether for an opportunity, for a business meeting, settle a dispute, the list goes on.

The ones who build real relationships, close important deals, and earn trust that lasts, they match the moment to the method.

They pick up the phone when others would send a note. They book the flight when others would schedule a Zoom. They put in the work because they know the relationship is worth it.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: people remember when you made time for them. They also remember when you didn't. The client who always gets a rushed email instead of a call feels it. The team member who hears tough feedback over Slack instead of in person knows exactly what that means.

It’s not just you…it’s also how your team operates too.

There's a cost to laziness here. Impersonal messages erode trust slowly, then all at once. When you finally need goodwill, when the stakes are highest, you reach for the account and find it empty.

Effort compounds in the other direction, too. When you consistently choose the harder path, people notice. Trust deepens. Reputation grows. You become the person who shows up, not the one who hides behind convenience.

So next time you're about to send a message that matters, stop. Ask yourself: Does the channel match the moment?

If it doesn't, upgrade. Pick up the phone. Get in the room. Make the effort impossible to miss.

Make yours count.

From new tools, recent trends, and market updates, here is what has been on my mind.

The deals that matter, the partnerships that last, the reputation that opens doors, they all trace back to one thing: showing up when it would have been easier not to.

So stop asking what's fastest. Start asking what this moment deserves.

Pick up the phone. Book the flight. Walk into the room. Because at the end of the day, nobody remembers the perfectly crafted email.

They remember who made the effort. Make sure that's you.

See you next week.