Riyaz Mahendy

I received a phone call from a businessman in a networking group I am leading.

The story goes like this: I sent out a document in pdf format to all members in this group, in order to prepare them for a meeting this coming week. When I sent out the document via an e-mail list, I sent out a text message to the whole group to look out for this document in order to arrive to the meeting well prepared. At the same time, as I am raising the game for this group a notch, a strong message was sent that if indeed anyone who doesn’t come prepared with the paperwork required, it would be an indicator of their attitude towards their membership in their group, and that it would be taken into consideration when their membership renewal time is up.

So, within an hour, I received one phone call, and we managed to get aligned and I sent her the document via a direct e-mail.

Then by the afternoon, another request came in, and that was also successfully resolved.

Well and good… but there was another case which was pending.

A certain ‘elderly’ man in this group who doesn’t have an e-mail address to his name. I mean ‘elderly’ so as to stereotype, though with no prejudice.

Now don’t get me wrong: I am not disrespecting anyone who chooses not to have an e-mail address, just that I wonder within me, how would they be connected in the reality of the world – the digital world – where connections are at lightning speeds.

So, he did ring, and for that I have to give him my full respect.

He requested, if I could send him the information via a fax. Which I did. Within minutes, I sent him the fax and he acknowledged receiving it.

However, the breakthrough came in moments later when he rang me again and said to me that the fax copy is pretty unclear. So he suggested to me that I send this document to him to his friend’s e-mail address and that he will collect it from his friend. Now that’s progress.

At this point, I requested consent from him to have a conversation on this.

I asked him if it would have been comprehensible to not operate his business without a fax machine? Of course, his answer was no. To which I explained to him that he needs to move on with technologies and adapt to changes, just like how he must have embraced a fax machine 25 years ago, when it was the next best thing invented after the sliced bread.

I also explained to him that in the digital world, he would be able to expand his market penetration to the keyboard addicts! This is a whole new generation of possible clientele who are affluent, and who wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if indeed his pricing was a couple of dollars higher, if indeed it was convenient to deal with them.

So, I think I might have created a new internet user!

Next would be the part to bring him up to speed on the right footing: proper domain names, adapt social media powerfully, and a whole load of stuff that even I myself am coming to grasp with.