A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the use of voicemail in our busy sales and business lives. And the verdict wasn’t all that positive.

In short, I made the point that voicemail as we know it is more of a hindrance than a help when it comes to staying in touch and being responsive to important messages.

We waste time on messages that are not urgent, miss the ones that require an immediate response and everything in between. It’s gotten so bad that we often feel compelled to follow-up on a left voicemail with a call - “Did you get my message?”

Part of the problem is certainly related to the way voicemail works. It’s technology that was developed in the late 80’s when the volume of messages was much lower than today and before every minor customer issue turned into a company-wide fire-drill.

But an even more significant part of the issue is related to the way we use, or rather abuse, voicemail. It has become a catch-all for everything people want to shoot your way.

And while I understand why it happens, it doesn’t make it right. There are plenty of alternative ways to communicate - often much more suited for the kind of attention (urgent, FYI or call-when-you-can) it needs.

Here’s how you can make some sense of it all.

A cross-section of my mailbox - 4 types of messages I receive.

Here’s are 4 categories of messages that hit my voicemail frequently.

1. Messages that need my attention right away.

My boss who needs my forecast. A customer who is down. My sales admin who just change the start date for a meeting early tomorrow morning. A question from a customer on our proposal that will be decided on today.

2. Messages that I can return when I get a chance.

A call with marketing to go through the details of a customer visit next week, my input in a case study. A message from a customer to set an appointment for next week.

3. Messages that do not need a response from me.

A notification from my sales admin that she has reserved a meeting room and projector, a call from my prospect that my email clarified all remaining issues. A message from my wife telling me she’ll be able to pick up our son from school today as we had discussed.

4. Messages I really don’t want to receive on a busy day.

Think telemarketing, calls from Sprint to upgrade my cellphone plan etc.

Do you recognize these categories? I am pretty sure they’re fairly typical of what ends up in your mailbox as well.

4 ways to respond to incoming messages.

So how can I best process these messages in a way that meets both their level of urgency and my personal needs? Let’s again look at the categories we identified above.

1. Urgent messages, I want right away. No matter where I am, no matter what I am doing. I need to be notified immediate - but I may be in a meeting when they arrive. So make it quick and unobtrusive. I would like to receive these messages via Instant Messaging (IM) or SMS.

2. Messages I can return later, I would like handle these when I am at my desk or at least behind a PC with good access to my calendar. I need to be in control here as there may be things I need to look up before responding. These messages I would prefer to receive by email, with the question and return phone number clearly noted. When I am on the road, I get to these at the beginning and end of the day.

3. Messages that are not urgent and left as an FYI, I like to listen to by phone - preferably when I am driving. No notes to take, no phone numbers to write down. Just open items that I needed an answer on. So leave these on my voicemail and I will get to them every couple of hours when I am driving from appointment to appointment.

4. Solicitations and telemarketing messages - well, I feel bad for the people that leave them but I tend to ignore those.

Depending on your business or the dynamics of your sales environment, you’ll probably create different message categories and ways to process them. That’s okay and fully understandable. The most important thing is that you start doing it.

But if you keep your personal system to yourself, there’s no way the people that need your attention will be able to understand and respond to it. So here’s another important step.

Explain to people the best way to communicate with you, given the nature of their request.

This doesn’t have to be hard - as long as you do it consistently. I recommend taking the following 3 steps daily, before you start your day:

1. Update your cellphone voice mail with the ways they can connect with you. Here’s an example of how that could sound.

“Hi, this is Jimmy Dean at Widget Corp and you’ve reached my cellphone. Today is Monday, October 12 and my access to voice mail is limited. Please listen to this message for the best way to connect with me today. If your message needs my immediate attention, please send me a text message and I will respond within 15 minutes. If your message is not urgent, please send me an email at jimmy@widget.com with your phone number and I will respond before the end of business today. If your message is for my information only and does not need my response, please leave a message after the tone”

2. Update your office phone with a similar message. Update both messages every day so your caller understands he’s receiving an updated message.

3. Put an out of office message in place for email. Even when you’re in the office, these messages can help people connect with you faster, in a way that helps you preserve your sanity.

These are just a few ideas and your mileage may vary. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment. What are you doing to maintain your responsiveness?

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