My grandfather and his partner started their printing business with a handshake. In the midst of the Great Depression, that’s how businesses were made. People couldn’t trust banks and contracts, so they trusted handshakes.
They could tell a lot from a handshake—the strength of the person, the engagement, the toughness or tenderness of the palm, the warmth or chill, the vigor or stupor.
A wringing handshake.
A vice grip.
A pump.
A dead fish.
And while the hands shook, the eyes met and exchanged more assurances than any contract could.
Times have changed. Business partners most often are out of arm’s reach. Sure, some businesspeople still clamber onto planes and hurl themselves thousands miles across the sky for the chance to shake a hand and stare into a pair of eyes, but most business partners have to settle for the 21st-century handshake: e-mail.
You can tell a lot from an e-mail—the strength of the thinking, the engagement, the toughness or tenderness of the voice, the warmth or chill, the vigor or stupor.
An e-mail that lands a contract.
An e-mail that creates a furor.
One that gets copied to everyone because it’s so good.
One that gets copied to everyone because it’s so ridiculous.
And every e-mail is eternally documented. It’s a matter of record, even of subpoena.
So, how’s your 21st-century handshake? Does it firmly and warmly grasp hold of the reader, or does it make the reader wince or curse or worse?
Here we are in the midst of the Great Recession, and businesspeople aren’t looking to banks and contracts for assurances. They’re looking to other businesspeople. They’re looking for handshakes, whether across a table or across the Internet. Take hold. Look them in the eye. Assure them you mean business.
—Rob King
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