Make the Call

Hiding behind the veil of “busyness” is a transparent excuse when it comes to returning phone calls. I find that waiting for callbacks or responses to requests is one of the most frustrating aspects of work. This is especially true if you need the response before you can proceed with the next component of your work. Are we so busy that basic respect for others is forgotten? I don’t think so.

Now I can see the temptation to claim “busyness” when someone is trying to sell you something and you’re not interested, yet he or she continues to call back. But why not bite the bullet and just say outright, “I’m not interested at this time, but thank you for calling.” You might even add, “Call me back in about three months as the situation might have changed by then,” if there’s a chance you might be interested at another time. This requires a tiny amount of effort and yet the payoff is high. It takes less time to make this call than it does to listen or read multiple unwanted messages. If time were really a factor, then the most effective use of one’s time would obviously be to “take care of business.” When I return unwanted calls I feel good because I have taken back control of my workload and have shown respect for another working person.

The reality for me is that people requesting a callback are usually reasonable people just trying to make a living at their work. And it’s not acceptable to suspend their ability to do so because I think my job or time is more important. If my busyness barometer is peaking and someone is waiting for something from me, I call him or her and ask for a week or two with the proviso that if he or she doesn’t hear from me, then call me again at that time.

At Your Workplace we pride ourselves on having positive follow-up skills and listening to the voice and opinions of others. We devote a large amount of time to making calls to determine if others may be interested in aligning themselves with some of the products and services we sell. Our business would not be successful if we didn’t respect the time and “busyness” of others. We would not be successful if we took the approach that we are just too busy to call back some unknown or seemingly “unimportant” person.

This summer it was suggested to me by the president of another organization to call his colleague, as he felt that we may wish to investigate each other’s services. He saw a fit. So I made the call just before I went on summer holidays. A month or so later I called again, and then there was the third call. Hmm, I thought as I mentally moved this “to do” item to the “recycle bin.”

So guess who I found myself sitting beside at a recent event? Yup. It was him; the delinquent one. And he remembered that he didn’t return my “one” call, at which point I was pleased to confirm the correct number of calls that I had made. He tried to brush off his dusty manners as having the bad habit of not returning phone calls. I felt a twinge of enjoyment at his sheepish look when I confirmed that I called to ask his firm to quote on a large amount of work that we outsource. He tried to make amends and I’m sure that he will return my call next time. But it is not okay.

Is there a correlation between one’s state of “busyness” and being disrespectful of others? I think not. By not returning phone calls, or any other form of contact, we are making the statement that the other person just doesn’t matter. “Busyness” is a veil that we hide behind to avoid making contact, particularly potentially uncomfortable contact, which results in disrespectful treatment.

I think we need to be aware at all times of our actions. We need to think through the impact that our decisions have on others. Human contact with others is what’s important rather than the “what’s in it for me” mentality. It makes our interactions personal and warm. With that in mind, here’s my challenge to you: sit down at your desk and make five phone calls right now that have been gathering dust on your “to do” list. See how important you feel at the smile you hear on the other end of the line.

I’m smiling because I’ve just made mine.