Let me tell you why ‘BLOWING up’ someone’s phone NEVER works
Ok, before you start losing your mind, I don’t mean ‘LITERALLY’ blowing up someone’s phone so back off. That’s not what I’m talking about. I mean when you decide that calling several times a day or leaving multiple messages over a short period time is how you’re going to get someone to respond. Let me tell you that this course of action is NEVER a good thing.
Now, keep in mind this little point. Pretty much every state requires attorneys to keep their client’s informed. So we tend to be very accommodating to multiple calls (probably more than we should sometimes. lol). However, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to give my “REEVES’s REASONS WHY RAPID, REPETITIVE, RINGING THE PHONE WILL GET YOU NO RESULTS!!”
1) For every message left, they gotta listen to it.
I’m always amazed at the people who feel that they have to leave multiple messages. One message is usually fine. Even more so fascinating is the fact that so many people will leave LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG messages and then want to repeat the same information when they speak to the person. Remember, this is not necessary. More importantly, why would you leave a 3 minute message on Monday morning and then call BACK that afternoon to see if they got it OR to ask them about the message?? Give them a chance to read it.
2) Don’t assume that your caller id will appear on the person’s phone. Even if your number appears, do you really expect them to remember your number?
Remember, some phones have caller id which will only show your number. THAT’s IT! So don’t get an attitude if you call OVER and OVER again and you assume the person will recognize your number. When I worked for my old firm, I had over 1000 clients. Trust me, I’m doing good when I can remember family member and friend’s numbers on my cell phone. Do you really expect people who get calls all day every day to remember YOUR number by heart????
3) If they say 24, 48, or 72 hours, GIVE THEM THAT TIME TO RESPOND.
Most people make a point to let the caller know that they need to be given time to respond. Usually, this is done because the person has so many calls they receive, they want to have the ability to call back in a timely manner. So be reasonable. If the message says, “I’ll respond in 48 hours”, that means TWO DAYS!! So if you call on Monday morning and you get the message “I’ll respond in 48 hours”, WHY IN THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING MONDAY AFTERNOON?????? CHILL! Give the person a chance to respond.
4) Always remember the story about “The BOY WHO CRIED WOLF”
Now, like i said before, attorneys are different. We have a duty to communicate and keep our client informed. However, you have to be realistic, if you call on Monday and the person gives you a status and THEN you call on Tuesday and they give the same status and then you call on Wednesday and they give you the same status, you CAN’T be surprised if you call Thursday and they don’t call back right away. Keep things in their proper perspective. After a while, people may tone you out so be careful.
5) If you don’t leave a message, HOW will they know?
This happens ALOT. People confuse “making repeated calls” with “leaving repeated messages”. Don’t forget about point #2. You can’t assume that the person’s phones keeps tracks of the multiple calls you have made. More importantly, you can’t treat ‘calling multiple times’ like leaving messages. So before you get angry because you’ve called 10 times and never got a call back and you didn’t leave a message, ask yourself this question, ‘If you didn’t leave a message, HOW do you expect them know that you called multiple times?’
6) Don’t forget about the shoe.
Now, follow this example, you owe someone some money. You don’t have it. You are going to get it. You are going to reimburse the person. However, they are not sure you’re going to honor your word. So they call you every other day asking for the status of their money. GUESS what you’re going to do? First, you’re going to have an attitude because you don’t want anyone sweating you. Second, you’re going to ignore. Third, when you finally pay the money, you are NEVER going to bother that person EVER again. Now, REVERSE the role. See how easy it is to get stank with someone and FORGET that they have your interest at heart but you have to respect them and their time.
Now don’t get me wrong. As a professional, I understand the importance of making sure that people kept informed. Just keep things in their proper perspective. Sometimes, you have to understand that you must give the person you’re speaking to the opportunity to respond and once they have, you have to trust that it is not always necessary to ‘aggressively call them’. Trust me. They know you’re there.
