The best part about communicating through telephone is the ability to hear the tone of voice, having the ability to have effective and positive interactions. Email is “asynchronous”, meaning you communicative one at a time and do not get an immediate response, this relinquishes the interpretation of tone of voice. Standards around emailing processes need to be established within a business frame-work to avoid miss-communication, they need to be kept up to date, attended to, be well mannered and convey the voice of the business. Voice mail also uses tone of voice and needs to be to the point, ask a question and get an answer. Mail and fax again “asynchronous”, one-way information, are methods that are phasing out, but similar to emails where miss communication needs to be avoided. Face-to-face communication has it all; sight, sound, tone of voice, facial expressions and body language, it is a “asynchronous” touchpoint and yet miss-communications can occur. Instant messaging is a method of communication that is growing in use and appeal but again awareness around its best use, communication delivery and interpretation is vital. Richardson, A (2010) defines the importance of the touchpoints behind employee and customer interaction, as the ability of businesses to speak to customers with the same tone, the same message and even the same words to communicate consistently and effectively. Businesses need to asks and address the questions; are the touch points addressing customer motivation, answering questions, working for your target market, meeting their needs, differentiating from their competitors and helping to retain the customer. In the customer realm, when it comes down to deciding whether to use a service or purchase from a brand, it can be said that the consumer evaluates brand alternatives and ranks them from the most preferred to the least preferred and forms ‘purchase intentions’. However, there are two factors that influence the consumer's actual "decision" to purchase. Such factors are the ‘attitudes of others’ and the ‘unexpected situational factors’. With regard to interaction between customers, the factor that is relevant to such a situation is the ‘attitudes of others’. During the pre-purchase stage of a consumer's decision making process, the consumer searches for information about a certain product from a variety of brands. An effective touchpoint during this search for information is experiences from other consumers of a brand whether it be from family and friends, or even reviews online via internet search or social media.