“Thank you for calling. Please leave a message and I’ll get back with you as soon as I can”.
The invention of voicemail and answering machines has given us the power to not talk to someone right now. We have caller ID so we can determine whether we want to answer the call or let our digital voice deal with the person trying to reach us. We can put people on hold or just choose to ignore them all together. My question is “Are we using this power wisely?”
I know that there are times when we can’t get to the phone or an e-mail. I also know that there are times where we want the world to leave us alone and we want some peace and quiet – but for crying out loud – if you are going to have a phone or an e-mail and someone leaves you a message, please respond!
Over the last couple of months I have tried to contact different organizations and individuals about partnerships and services that they expressed interest in. I have left messages and sent e-mails without any response from these people. In my mind their brand and their “professionalism” sucks! Are you guilty of this? If so, please change this habit immediately. If you aren’t responding to your messages or e-mails you are telling that person that they aren’t important. Don’t ignore people…especially if you initiated the conversation.
Here are four suggestions I would like to make:
- Respond promptly. If you get a message or an e-mail do everything you can to respond within 24 hours. If you can do it sooner that’s better but don’t wait for three days or three weeks to pass.
- Set up an Auto-Response. If you are away for an extended time set up an auto-response with your e-mail to let people know that you received their message and will contact them when you return. You can also let people know on your voicemail that you are unavailable for a while and will respond when you get back.
- Be Honest or Upfront. If you really don’t want to talk with that person for whatever reason then let them know. It is better to say the truth and be upfront than to be unprofessional or discourteous by not returning calls or e-mails. People can handle rejection more than being ignored.
- Ask for forgiveness if necessary.
Remember that building a great brand or image can take a life-time to achieve and it yet it can be destroyed very quickly. One way to destroy it is by not returning phone calls and e-mails! Please make sure to respond.
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