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Ask HN: How to manage number of phone calls without seeming rude?

6 points by martinald ↗ HN
I've managed to get my email workload generally under control with a fair few techniques - mainly putting aside chunks of time to deal with it.

However, increasingly, I'm drowning in phone calls that are not productive and could have been dealt with in a one line email.

Unfortunately, many of these people are older (who seem not to worry about phoning people a lot) and are my more important clients & customers. I've tried muting my cell, but they'll just call our switchboard instead and ask to speak urgently to me.

In an ideal world I just want to change my voicemail to "Don't call me, email/sms/skype me" but I think it gives off the wrong impression.

9 comments

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mik3y
So you want people to e-mail you more, but don't want to seem brash by just saying so in your voicemail. Right idea!

I think the computer networking concepts of "quality of service" and "latency" are relevant: Train your callers that they'll get lower latency, and more reliable communication, by e-mailing you. A VM message like the following might do the trick, without seeming so hostile: "I'm often away from my phone, and it sometimes takes me 2-3 days to get back to voicemail. For faster service, please e-mail me at martinald@example.com. <BEEP>"

mod
"Hi, Martinald! I really need to speak to you urgently! Please call me ASAP, this is very important!"
saluki
Since you have a switchboard have them ask 'he's in a meeting can I take a message', have them email the message to you, then you can respond back to your staff and them and have them return the call. You could also setup a block of time the following morning to return calls but I think training an assistant to handle them would free up more time for you.
markbarrington
Try this. Keep a log for one week of why they are calling. Then find a way for them to self serve the top 3 reasons for calling. Product info. Update your FAQ. Order status. Provide a web update or email update. Project Status. Provide a weekly update in advance.

Focus on making their lives more efficient and your efficiency will surely follow.

JSeymourATL
> many of these people are older (who seem not to worry about phoning people a lot) and are my more important clients & customers.

Do you value the 'relationship' with your clients? Client Management may be the most critical, least appreciated parts of the job. They need to hear your voice. And in turn, you'll gain new insights into their world. Yes, factor the phone time into chunks during your day. Consider a mid-day window & end of business day window for calls.

brudgers
Respond to phone calls with emails. This will move the conversation to your preferred channel.

That said, if your employer's business is based on providing clients with phone access, then that's what why they pay you.

Mz
Unfortunately, many of these people are older (who seem not to worry about phoning people a lot) and are my more important clients & customers

If it were me, I would assume that their motives for calling aren't as simple as "Need X thing that is business related". I would wonder if they need something like more sense of contact and I would try to arrange to call them before they called me. Them feeling like you are reaching out and can be gotten ahold of may cut back on this. People do things for all kinds of reasons that aren't "logical."

Sometimes, briefly touching base earlier rather than later is a time saver.

MalcolmDiggs
I've been there. Here's what worked for me:

1. Answer emails very quickly. (Within a few minutes)

2. Return phone calls very slowly. (Never pick up, call back many hours later).

Eventually, any "rational actor" who is trying to reach you will email instead.

brudgers
A client may just find another provider and still be a rational actor. There are contexts in which lack of responsiveness to phone calls is viable and contexts in which it is not. For example the caller calls the callee's boss when they cannot get service.