Don’t Call Me – It’s Rude
12 Jul
How do you feel about phone calls? Personally, I hate them. I’ve never been much for talking on the phone; even in high school I preferred IM and text to phone calls. It’s actually kind of ironic that I hate phone calls so much, because my phone is never more than three feet away from me. Of course, as we all know, chatting is the least of what phones can do now. I love love love my email, Twitter, Facebook, text messages, and on and on.
But back to phone calls. The truth of the matter is, I think they’re rude. Now, this opinion doesn’t extend to scheduled calls – those are just fine and dandy. But take a minute and think about what an unexpected phone call really means.
It means that the person on the other end expects you to stop whatever it is that you’re doing to focus on them and their agenda. That’s rude. I don’t think most people are being intentionally rude, but it is pretty self-centered to expect that the person you’re calling is thinking about the same issue you’re calling about and has the time to discuss it right then.
I understand that the phone used to be the primary method of doing business, but things have changed. Yes, there are some things are better to talk about over the phone, but send an email to set up a good time to call someone. This way the other person can gather their thoughts on the subject, give some thought to whatever you’d like to discuss, make sure that they’re able to hit all of the points that they want to cover in your conversation, and – most importantly – make sure they have time to focus on your call.
I think for the most part, work-related calls aren’t intentionally rude. We all get caught up in whatever it is that we’re working on and can (incorrectly) assume that everyone else is caught up in the same thing. But there is one type of phone call that I just cannot abide.
The sales call.
Stop it. Stop it right now. It is 2012. Do not call me to sell me something. Not only is it rude (see above), but guess what? I will automatically put you on a “last resort” list. That means that I will only purchase your product or service if I have absolutely no other option. (Think, it’s the end of the world and you have all the clean water.) Calling me does not get you bumped to the top of the list. It gets you taken off the list.
Do you have a great product or service that you know I would just love? Awesome. Email me. Tweet me. Hell, send me a text message if that’s what you’ve gotta do. Just don’t call. It makes me cranky.
What do you think? Are phone calls rude, or just business as usual?
*These rules do not apply to my mother. She gave birth to me, she can (and does) call me whenever she wants.
i HATE phone calls! i got a ring yesterday from someone whom i’m working with on a big charity project. i *get* that she needs some help, but… ok, this is going to sound awful but– she doesn’t work, her job is to work on these projects. i have a day job. please don’t call me at it, expect me to be on the phone with you for an hour, and then get cranky that i have to leave to do my actual job!
emily recently posted..$20 Kitchen Art
YES! You might be calling about something really important, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not doing something *else* that’s also really important.
I KNOW! The last thing I want to do when I get home is talk on the phone. And I especially don’t want to talk to someone about a product they’re trying to pawn off on me.
I will say though, most anyone I ever speak to is in my phone by name. And if a number comes up (rather than a name) I don’t answer. That tells me I’ve never spoken to you before or you’re trying to pin me to the wall on something.
Now I’m on a rant…wow.
=)
Carrie recently posted..LUX: Since I’m not over here, I must be over there. Vol. 07132012
Rant away, lady! I usually don’t answer numbers I don’t know, but since my cell phone number is in my email signature and on my business cards, sometimes it really is an important work call. Of course, in that case, they usually leave a message.
I’m so glad your rules don’t apply to me. There are times when I just need to hear your voice.