Today is a day off for a number for folks in honor of presidents Washington and Lincoln. While I was never a big fan of having to come to the office on what was a holiday for many others, the silver lining was that it was a great day to catch up. The cynics among you will say that returning a phone call on a holiday or sending an email when you know the recipient won’t be checking is evil. I understand your thinking but I’d also argue that it’s a lot less evil than the alternative and that’s the point I’d like to make today.
All of us sell something at some point. There are the obvious new business pitches and the not so obvious selling of ourselves to higher-ups for raises, promotions, etc. What drives me crazy – and probably you as well – isn’t getting turned down; it’s no response at all. I’m amazed, given the ease of modern communication, at the number of people who don’t respond at all to email or phone calls. At first I thought that maybe it was just me but as I’ve spoken with others on the topic I’ve discovered that it’s a common problem.
I know that sometimes mail ends up in a spam folder, which is why I’ll often reach out via other means – telephone, social networks, etc. – if my first couple of mails go unacknowledged. That term is very specific – even if you can’t take the time to give e thoughtful response, why not at least say “I have your note, I want to think about it, I promise I’ll get back to you within a few days”? Or if you’re going to say you’re not interested, why not just say it? I realize that to the person doing the selling this may be the most important thing in the world at the moment and it’s just not to you but at some point YOU will be doing the selling (or asking for a raise or a budget or something). How about a little common courtesy?
Everyone I know is constantly pitching business. We know we won’t close everything we pitch but at some point one has to stop pitching in case everyone says yes and hires us. After all, there are only so many hours in a week. What we can’t do is stay on hold. So how about we all use the day off to respond to two or three folks who we’ve kept sitting in limbo and try to make an effort not to do that to anyone going forward?
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