By Nancy Friedman, Keynote Speaker, President, Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training
A while back, folks used to ask me, “Nancy what do you think of people who don’t return their phone calls?” My answer was simple – “NOT VERY MUCH!”
Not return a phone call? How rude can you get?
“Well, you don’t understand Nancy, I get a lot of phone calls.” Oh, I understand. I really do. I understand a lot more than you realize. I get a lot of phone calls too. Thankfully. That’s normally a good thing.
Yes, getting a lot of phone calls is normally a very good thing. And certainly all of us, ok, most of us, aren’t able to return all our calls immediately, but most of us can have them returned on our behalf. That we can do.
Not returning a phone call is as wrong as going from lane to lane on the highway without using your turn signal. Just RUDE. How can you not return a phone call or not have it returned on your behalf? Sorry, just don’t understand that. (Yes, granted, there are a few exceptions.)
Looking to get off a call list or not have that person call back? Better to nicely explain you’re not a good prospect and ask them to remove you from their list.
Moving on. Now I hear, “They don’t return my emails.” OMG. How difficult is that? A simple “received” or “OK” or “will do” or even “no thanks.” Something. Acknowledging receipt of the email is relatively simple. That we can do.
When someone emails you with a question or comment, you can simply hit reply & email back “ok” or “will get back ASAP.” We might not be able to answer their question right away, but we certainly can let the person know we have ‘received’ their message. That we can all do.
If we don’t want to hear from the person again, not answering the phone call or email isn’t necessarily the way to get rid of them.
How to get rid of unwanted emails: A short gentle note back, asking to be removed from the list, is the ‘kind’ thing to do. A ‘reason’ might help soften the blow as well.
Bottom Line: It could be worse, what if no one ever emailed or called you? That’s sad.
