Way back in time before phones, people would call unannounced, to others’ houses. It was acceptable to do so, although the butler might not give you permission to enter, you had to give him a calling card first.
When phones were invented, people would then phone before calling around to your house. Calling unannounced was frowned upon. Hawkers were positively rejected. Would you call on a customer’s home or office unannounced?
When email was invented, people would email to fix up a time to phone. Phoning unexpectedly was positively frowned upon.
Nowadays even unexpected email is treated as spam and some people get positively angry when you turn up in their email inbox unannounced, especially the younger generation. Which is why they use other apps that approve people first such as WhatsApp, LinkedIn Messenger, Snapchat, Facebook, etc.
Here’s the million-dollar question: Why do we still use the phone to contact people unexpectedly? A cold or warm call, whatever you tag it, is a relic from the past. We should be seeking new ways to make contact allowing the customer to maintain control over their buying process.
I’ve got my dogs to keep callers away, an autoresponder for email and voicemail for phone calls, what do you have?
