How Do You Respond?
Sometimes I get a voicemail from someone, or an email from someone (not junk mail, but a personal email), that I just have no interest in doing business with. I don’t mean this personally, but I just may not be in the market for what this individual has to sell, or have the time or interest to listen to what this individual wants to share.
When this happens to you, how do you respond?
- Disregard the voicemail/email
- Wait to see if they call/email again and deal with it then
- Respond in a timely manner
I have to confess that far too often I simply disregard the call. While discussing this today with a coworker it occurred to me that this is a horrible way to handle it.
First, I will ultimately be wasting my own time, because they are going to call back, and I am going to have to deal with them eventually.
Second, it is a waste of their time, because I haven’t interrupted the loop, and they are going to take the time to call me again.
Third, and most importantly, it is an unkind and disrespectful response (no response) to someone that is merely trying to do their job.
There is only one adequate response, and that is to actually respond. Take the time to respond via phone or email and break the loop. Save yourself and the other party valuable time. I assure you it will take less time to do this than to get stuck on a call later. If you just don’t have the time to respond, delegate it. Break the loop!
Probably the greatest issue here is my own realization of how often I have passively disrespected someone. How do I want people (prospects, referrals, etc) to respond when I call? Break the loop respectfully! I know how I want to be treated, so it’s time to treat others the same way.
How do you respond?
