Here\u2019s your call to action: together we can end voicemail. Maybe that\u2019s a bit ambitious, but at the very least collectively\u00a0we can reduce it.<\/p>\n
Despite advents in technology there is no getting around the fact that text is easily the most efficient content format there is. It\u2019s\u00a0scan-able, easily\u00a0transferable, distribution scales and the processing of it can be archived or even automated. Even creating it is easier than other forms of content.<\/p>\n
Which gets to the title of this post: why is voicemail still used?<\/p>\n
My theory: it\u2019s a habit of the older generation, so they keep using it. That\u2019s the only thing keeping it alive. My generation uses it because we\u00a0have to<\/em>\u00a0(for context, I\u2019m 28) but we don\u2019t really enjoy the process. The generation younger than me is going to balk at it because they\u2019ve always been networked and had phones with text messaging.<\/p>\n With this in mind, I think voicemail should be added to the\u00a0list of living artifacts.<\/p>\n Voicemail is the worst kind of inbox because it\u2019s terribly inefficient (similar to a regular mailbox) and there is no native way to implement an organization or filtering approach. The fact that we\u2019ve created tools to transform voicemail to text says it all: text is the superior format for transmitting\u00a0time-shifted\u00a0messages.<\/p>\n Consider some\u00a0scenarios:<\/strong><\/p>\n The \u201cneed to chat with someone in real-time\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Scenario:\u00a0<\/strong>you call someone and they don\u2019t pickup. But you don\u2019t want to leave them a message, you wanted to actually chat with them in real-time to say what you need to. This happens a lot. You\u00a0could<\/em>\u00a0leave a voicemail where the message content simply asks the person to call you back, but that wastes both your time. For the caller: have you noticed how absurdly long the process is to get to through to a cell phone voicemail? For the recipient: it is obnoxious to receive a voicemail where the only message content is \u201cplease call me back.\u201d No one finds that useful.<\/p>\n Solution:\u00a0<\/strong>modern phones have a \u201cmissed call\u201d feature for exactly this purpose. Seeing you have missed a call from a contact should be sufficient information\u00a0for us to know to call someone back. As a society, can we come together and agree on that? If it is\u00a0really<\/em>\u00a0important, at this juncture the respectful thing to do is text your contact saying please call me back ASAP. A text message is as far as you should go \u2013 texts are high priority (and efficient) ways to transmit a quick bit of information. It is never appropriate to leave a voicemail that just says \u201ccall me back\u201d the correct answer here is a text.<\/p>\n The \u201ccan you please do these 3 things?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Scenario:<\/strong>\u00a0you call someone to review a list of 3 things you need them to do and ensure clarity on all of them. Except the person doesn\u2019t pick up. At this point, you\u00a0could\u00a0<\/em>leave a voicemail outlining the 3 things you need done, but there is no accountability here and you\u2019re really trusting someone is going to listen to the whole message.<\/p>\n Solution:\u00a0<\/strong>in this case if you\u2019re assigning tasks, skip the phone call all together and assign the task within your project management system. Note in the task if there are questions or what you\u2019re asking is unclear, please call or email\u00a0you<\/em>\u00a0for clarification. This minimizes the need for phone discussions and keeps your team focused on execution vs. meeting. If you\u2019re not using a project management system you probably should be, but even still email is a superior format to assign tasks than a voicemail.<\/p>\n Let me demonstrate:<\/p>\n Tasks for Future Buzz readers:<\/strong><\/p>\n Easy, right? You can scan all of that in a few seconds, quicker than I could say it to you on voicemail. It\u2019s also faster for me to type it than to wait to reach your voicemail.<\/p>\n The \u201cnever responded to my email\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Scenario:\u00a0<\/strong>you\u2019re trying to reach a prospect or team member that never responded to your email. It\u2019s important enough you\u2019re calling them, but you get their voicemail so you decide to leave a message sharing in great detail what it is you need from them.<\/p>\n Solution:\u00a0<\/strong>if it\u2019s a prospect they probably\u00a0received\u00a0your email. If you follow up with a phone call and get their voicemail they are most likely ignoring you. Sure, they might be busy on both accounts but if you allowed sufficient time between communications and they never got back to you, wake up to reality: they\u2019re ignoring you. The lead is cold, recycle back to marketing to nurture until deemed qualified to try again. If a team member, try re-forwarding your email and flagging with a higher priority. 99% of the time this works. If it doesn\u2019t: this is likely a systemic issue, your processes are broken and you need a better system to manage your team.<\/p>\n The one time leaving voicemail might make sense is if you\u2019re in a place you can\u2019t quickly write an email or add a task to your project management system and you absolutely need to deliver time sensitive information to someone. Of course, this is not ideal because most people don\u2019t place a priority on checking voicemail messages anyway due to the time-intensive nature of doing so. Instead you should work to equip your team for success ahead of time so you\u2019re not put in a situation like the above.<\/p>\n Anyway \u2013 in these cases if you absolutely, positively need to deliver information to someone right now you should probably try people\u2019s cell phones rather than leave a voicemail. If they know you\u2019re in a situation you might need to deliver information in real-time, they\u2019ll pick up.<\/p>\n I guess I\u2019m struggling to find a use case for voicemail. It is easily my lowest priority, highest time cost inbox and really one I would rather just see go away. I\u2019ve even thought about replacing my personal voicemail with a message such as \u201cI am sorry but I no longer accept\u00a0voicemail, please email or text me if you\u2019d like a response\u201d and then listing my email address.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here\u2019s your call to action: together we can end voicemail. Maybe that\u2019s a bit ambitious, but at the very least … <\/p>\n\n