“Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” –Sugarloaf, 1970.
People will respond quicker if you text them and it has become the dominant mode of communication for several reasons.
The first is the onslaught of telemarketers. Many people are screening their calls, limiting incoming to those on their contact list. Not a bad idea if you aren’t in business. Chaffee Properties receives rental requests from area codes far from our trade area. Ignoring them might mean a missed opportunity. We should let them go to voicemail but in the rental business, it could be an emergency.
On a positive note, some people find nothing more delightful than the surprise ringing of the phone that signals someone is thinking about them. For others, there is nothing more rude, intrusive and even panic-inducing than an unannounced jingle.
Phone call etiquette has become complicated. Age may be the defining factor. Some of my Baby Boomer friends are hard-pressed to respond to a text, while Millennials and Gen Zs survive on them. Don’t waste time calling young people. To quote a recent television commercial, “We don’t do that!”
We live in a multitasking era where people listen, but they don’t hear. Texting offers a level of clarity and record-keeping while calls are time-stamped, but little else. Who wants to check voicemail, especially when they may be chatbots or salespeople?
Texting can result in miscommunication due to lack of vocal tone and non-verbal clues, but balancing text with calls when necessary leads to more nuanced and meaningful interaction.
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