Slowing down to say it right

I drive more slowly after vacations.

I noticed this on Monday as I was running errands. After two weeks at the beach, my entire pace of life had calmed considerably. I also noticed that seeing or hearing others who clearly were not still in vacation mode had a jarring effect on me. In Starbucks, I heard two men at a table, clearly having a job interview.

The candidate was speaking in such a hurried, loud way that he sounded almost desperate, and maybe he was. Of course, he also could have simply been revved up from the extra large, super-charged coffee in front of him. Whatever caused it, it unsettled me.

I remember another instance, 14 years ago, on my honeymoon. After being in Antigua for more than a week, my body and mind had happily turned to jelly. My husband and I still laugh about the New York gentleman and his wife who charged into the resort restaurant one evening after just arriving from a long day of travel.

The man started barking orders about getting a reservation in 20 minutes and while he was not trying to be rude - he was just loud, fast-talking, tired and hungry - he seemed completely out of place. The other diners sympathetically shook our heads and chuckled, knowing that even this Yankees fan would probably mellow out within 24 hours.

Slowing down feels good, whether you’re on vacation or just enjoying a quieter summer pace. It’s also a great strategy for your professional communications.

Here are tips for taking things slow in each communications venue.

1. In person
Taking a few minutes at the start of a business meeting, sales call or interview to exchange some small talk helps to build rapport and lay the foundation for a stronger relationship. Only when you can connect with someone as an individual instead of as a position, e.g. sales manager, purchasing agent, etc., can you forge a connection that will yield positive results.

These few minutes are precious.

Most of us find silence to be awkward, especially when we are sitting directly across from someone. But a pregnant pause - giving someone time to digest what you’ve said or to think about how they’ll answer a question - creates a calm environment where decisions can be reached with more clarity.

In a sales call, for instance, you want to try to get your prospect to open up as much as possible about their "pain" - how a current vendor is disappointing them, how business is slower than they’d like, etc. You can’t get to that pain if you do all the talking, if you rush the conversation. Give your prospects the space they need so that they’ll see that you are the best solution to their problem.

Silence also works well when you find yourself in a challenging disagreement. While it’s very tempting to want to get the last word, taking the high road by saying nothing can end the conversation to your advantage.

2. In print
After you have finally finished that sales proposal, cover letter or memo, your instinct may be to send it as quickly as possible. But if you really want the new client or the new job, remember the important step of rereading, revising and proofing - Spellcheck does not catch everything and, in fact, it can miss some embarrassing mistakes. (My business partner once e-mailed a client during a winter storm that she "hoped the snot wasn’t making travel too difficult." Luckily, he had a sense of humor.)

Slow down for a few minutes to proofread your work. Read it backwards, too, as you’ll see things you may miss when reading naturally. And whenever possible, have someone else read it. They will see it with fresh eyes.

3. Online
You’ve done it, I know you have. Hit "Send" when you shouldn’t have? Or hit "Reply All" when you didn’t mean to? Or forwarded an e-mail without reading all the way down to where someone bashed the person you were sending it to? The online world has sped up the business world tremendously, but the biggest lesson it’s given to me is to slow down.

Distraction, information overload and never-ending e-mails in the InBox trigger knee-jerk reactions. You will be very well served to simply take a breath before you ever hit "Send." And in some cases, you will be better off by not hitting "Send" at all.

If you slow down even a little bit in these three areas, your business is sure to pick up.

Maureen O’Grady Condon, a Framingham resident, is principal of Precision Marketing Group, an outsourced marketing partner for B2B organizations. Contact her at Maureen@precisionmarketinggroup.com.