“Who the hell are you and why are you contacting me?”

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Begin rant. . .

I got this voice mail message the other day: “Hi David, this is Joe Blow. Please give me a call at [telephone number]. . .”.

He didn’t say who he was (other than his name, which I did not recognize) or why he was calling. He didn’t give me any reason to call him back.

Guess who I didn’t call back?

I shouldn’t have to tell anyone this but it happens often enough so I guess I do: when you leave a message, tell people who you are and why you are calling.

Are you a client? A colleague? A fan? Do you want to hire me? Is there an issue I need to look into? Do you have something to propose?

When you leave a voice message, give them a good reason to call you back.

And. . .

State your name clearly. Spell it (unless it’s very common). Say your number slowly so they can write it down. Repeat the number so they don’t have to listen to the message again. Give them your time zone and the best time(s) to reach you. Say please and thank you.

Common courtesy and common sense.

And. . .

The same goes for email.

Tell people who you are and why you’re writing. What do you want them to know or do? Give them a web site so they can find out more. Use correct grammar and spelling. Format your email so it doesn’t look like a DECLARATION OF WAR! And get to the friggin point!

When you contact someone for the first time, you’re making that proverbial first impression. The only thing they have to go on is that email or voice mail message. Make it professional. Show them you care. Because if you don’t care, why should they?

Rant over. . .

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Comments

  1. I agree with your “rant” for the most part, but the guy calling was using a marketing technique to get you to call him back. It failed with you, but it does work. The guy was selling something, but if he had told you that, you definitely would not have called him back. By not telling you who he was or why he was calling you might have thought it was something you should have known but forgot, or that it was someone who was flustered and just forgot to say why he called. Once you call back, they have you, for at least a little while, to listen to their sales pitch. I don’t like this technique, but it must work as I keep getting similar calls (at least once in a while).

    • Ed, you’re probably right. I’ve listened to sales trainers who teach this strategy and I know it does work.

      He probably didn’t know who he was calling. . .