Question
How do I gently discourage people from leaving me voicemail and instead encourage them to use text-based forms of communication (e.g. SMS, email, etc.)?
Answer
Why bother being gentle? Just make your voicemail message polite and brusque but unambiguous: "I rarely check voicemail or return calls. If you want an actual response, email me at blah."
I've been meaning to do this for a while. Apart from my retired parents who aren't going to change, I really don't want to use the phone with anyone unless it is a scheduled meeting or a real-time coordination situation where texting is impractical or dangerous (like driving).
This NYT article gets it exactly right: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/2...
In 2011, it is just plain uncivil and rude to expect people to give you unscheduled real-time voice attention unless they are immediate family, or it is a true emergency.
I am only procrastinating because it's already very rare for me. There has only been one such interaction for me in recent times. It was with a person who contacted me via LinkedIn acting like he had a consulting gig for me, but despite two requests, kept hedging and saying, "call me, it'll be much easier to tell you over the phone." I finally did, just out of curiosity. No effort to even schedule a time. Just "call me" (which I HATE, because you might as well say, "let's play phone tag"). Given his curious mix of persistence and reluctance to explain over email, I figured it might be a million dollar top-secret thing. So I called.
Turned out the guy was just a rather old-fashioned dude who was uncomfortable with email, had a godawful offer I didn't want and had nothing to say that couldn't have been said over email. I'd have been mad at him except I figured it was just a generation gap type thing. If it had been anyone roughly my own age, I'd have some choice curses to hurl.
I've now made it a rule to just ignore such people and not return their calls or emails unless their last name is something like Winfrey, Trump, Gates or Bezos. Maybe I'll lose out on something big, but I'll live with that.
I've been meaning to do this for a while. Apart from my retired parents who aren't going to change, I really don't want to use the phone with anyone unless it is a scheduled meeting or a real-time coordination situation where texting is impractical or dangerous (like driving).
This NYT article gets it exactly right: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/2...
Phone calls are rude. Intrusive. Awkward. “Thank you for noticing something that millions of people have failed to notice since the invention of the telephone until just now,” Judith Martin, a k a Miss Manners, said by way of opening our phone conversation. “I’ve been hammering away at this for decades. The telephone has a very rude propensity to interrupt people.”
In 2011, it is just plain uncivil and rude to expect people to give you unscheduled real-time voice attention unless they are immediate family, or it is a true emergency.
I am only procrastinating because it's already very rare for me. There has only been one such interaction for me in recent times. It was with a person who contacted me via LinkedIn acting like he had a consulting gig for me, but despite two requests, kept hedging and saying, "call me, it'll be much easier to tell you over the phone." I finally did, just out of curiosity. No effort to even schedule a time. Just "call me" (which I HATE, because you might as well say, "let's play phone tag"). Given his curious mix of persistence and reluctance to explain over email, I figured it might be a million dollar top-secret thing. So I called.
Turned out the guy was just a rather old-fashioned dude who was uncomfortable with email, had a godawful offer I didn't want and had nothing to say that couldn't have been said over email. I'd have been mad at him except I figured it was just a generation gap type thing. If it had been anyone roughly my own age, I'd have some choice curses to hurl.
I've now made it a rule to just ignore such people and not return their calls or emails unless their last name is something like Winfrey, Trump, Gates or Bezos. Maybe I'll lose out on something big, but I'll live with that.