Digital Stalking' turns off UK business

Business people communicate more than ever but are they sending out the wrong messages? BT Business teams up with a leading psychologist to investigate virtual identity.

Companies are in danger of driving away business and wasting time on unproductive communications because they are failing to understand customersí different digital personality types when they are dealing through email or other communications channels.

In new research released by BT Business today, nearly a third (30%) of the workers surveyed* feel harassed by the sheer number of messages people send them while many also admit that they themselves are never sure of the best way to contact people implying that companies are missing out on the opportunity to unify their communications technology, and on the personal and business benefits that can bring.

At the same time, workers appear to be increasingly managing working relationships through social and business networks further adding to the volume of work related communications people send and receive. One in 10 people surveyed have customers and clients as friends on personal social networking sites such as Facebook. This trend is particularly true for younger people, with more than one in six (15 per cent) of the 18 to 24s surveyed saying they use or would use these tools to manage customer relationships, compared to just two per cent of 45s or over. Similarly, six times as many 18 to 24-year-olds use or would use microblogs such as Twitter to manage customer relationships compared to 45s or over.

These are some of the key findings of the BT Business research which sought to understand how people are using modern communications tools to build business relationships. The research involved input from one of the UKís leading psychologists Gladeana McMahon.

Psychologist Gladeana McMahon explains: ìItís important that people recognise the difference between communicating virtually and face-to-face. We often read othersí body language to gauge what they are really saying, adapting our response to get a better result. In the virtual world we donít have the same clues to help us modify our behaviour so we must try to identify ëdigital personality typesí in other ways to ensure business success. Similar to people thinking before they speak, people need to think before they click to avoid inappropriate communications.î

ìItís great to see businesses taking up new technology to build profitable relationships but many are missing out on the opportunity to get rid of the clutter and unify their communications,î said Bill Murphy, managing director BT Business.

ìUnified communications can empower employees to intelligently tune their communications to the preferences and behaviour patterns of different personalities by creating a sense of presence in a virtual world. With three quarters of the UKís small businesses now operating some form of flexible working, to maximise the benefits itís important for businesses to look at how they can help staff to be more productive, while at the same time saving money by eliminating wasteful messaging.î

The research also revealed a real concern by nearly a third (29 per cent) of managers surveyed** that they would lose customers if they did not get better at using technology to communicate with them, however, 42 per cent said their organisation does not provide guidelines to help employees effectively use the communication tools listed in the survey, such as email. This is despite evidence that suggests some people are using tools such as Twitter and Facebook for work purposes which may be outside corporate policy.

Working with McMahon BT has identified a range of digital personality types1 to help employers develop their own policies on the use of modern communication tools and to encourage employees to understand their own behaviour and the communication habits of others better.