Time Tip-Telephone Tag

Time Tip-Telephone Tag

I love technology. I am not a technical person but I admire thetechno-things that have helped my business, productivity andprofitability. Things like laptops, the Internet, and email have cutcosts and boosted productivity and profits dramatically during the lastdecade.With almost all new technological breakthroughs, there is a period thatis heralded as the answer to all our problems followed quickly by alearning period during which we figure out how to best capitalize onthis new way of working.

Voicemail fits this paradigm. Voicemail-the culprit that heightened“telephone tag” to an art form.Ten years ago, I had to pay the salary of a receptionist or acquire theservices of an answering service to handle incoming telephone calls. OrI might use an answering machine with a limited recording limit. I optedfor the live receptionist.
More personal, more real, I thought.Then along came voicemail, a way of accepting incoming phone calls at alow cost with more options than an answering machine and a way of moreeffectively handling phone calls than before, giving the caller theopportunity to receive answers to their inquiries without talking to areal person.

Multiple menu options surfaced (if you would like sales, press 2, if youpress 2 and would like to receive a copy of our catalog, press 4, if youpress 4 and would like our winter catalog, press 5, but if you wouldlike our spring catalog, press 6…..).

I actually timed a menu optionthing recently and it took over a minute and a half to get to the optionthat I wanted to get to the information I needed.Voicemail also creates a new opportunity for people to duck your calls.Many people rarely answer a phone when it rings waiting until you haveslogged through their voicemail menu, then to play your message anddecide whether or not to call you back. Of course, when they call youback, they get your voicemail system and then you have to listen totheir message and decide whether or not to return their call. Hmmm.

Telephone tag and you’re it!We need a better system. Here are a few suggestions to better deal withvoicemail and avoid telephone tag.

1. Use an alternative to telephone. Look, people you call are going toduck your call via voicemail so use a different mode of communicationthat might have a better rate of success of getting through. Fax yourmessage or email it or even use a first class letter. Some of those“old” methods are better than the new technology.

2. Don’t spill the beans. Want someone to call you back? Don’t give themthe entire speal in your voicemail. Less is more. A little intrigue. Teasers. “Debbie. Please give me a call to talk about how to make yourjob easier” v “ Debbie. I found a new online course for only $259 thatwill show us how to get a lot more done in less time with a lot lessstress. The problem is I can’t afford to buy it on my own. Would you bewilling to kick in half of this and we could share the program? Let meknow if you want to do this.”

3. Be specific. If you want a return call, don’t end with “Call me assoon as possible” or “Call me soon” or “Call me when you can”. Everyonehas “too much to do”. You are then just one more thing to do. Thosevague requests wind up in the “as soon as possible” pile of Never NeverLand that rarely gets acted upon. Instead, give a specific day and timeto call back. Don’t give two or more choices because that willnecessitate a call back from that person to confirm which date and timeis best to return the call.
For example: “Joe, this is Don. I need to speak to you about how to makethe Anderson research run more smoothly. Give me a call back on Tuesday,the fifth at 9:00 a.m. I blocked that time for you. If this doesn’t workfor you, please give me a call to reschedule and leave a message on myvoicemail with at least two alternate dates and times for us to talk.
Gutsy? Offensive? Well, 95% of the time you will not hear back from thisperson to change the date and time you have selected and you willaccomplish what you intended to do on the date and time you have selected.

by Don Wetmore