So the latest research shows that the youngest of my generation have now developed a disdain, among other things, for leaving and receiving voicemail. The argument is that the voicemail is time consuming to retrieve, antiquated in general, and really serves no purpose. I couldn’t disagree more. I’ve heard more than one person say that if someone really wants to reach them, they’d know how, ie text, tweet, Facebook message etc. I’ve also heard other millennials say it simply takes too much time and is inconvenient to listen and/or respond. These could all be good arguments if one small fact didn’t exist: the world isn’t filled with just millennials! The fact is that the same marketing strategy does not work for every product in every situation.

 

As an “etiquette guy” I find it distasteful for those I just meet to randomly send text messages. If that mode of communication has been established prior to then I’m fine with it. However, I wouldn’t just meet someone for the first time and then have them start texting me. That’s a more intimate, far less formal manner of communicating that leaves much to be desired in many settings. I went to college with a guy who had one of my all time favorite voicemail recordings: “If you don’t leave a message, you never called.”

 

What about when you’re looking for a job and a potential employer calls and you don’t even know how to check your voicemails! Or one of my biggest pet peeves: a full voicemail box! To me, nothing screams “UNPROFESSIONAL” more than a full voicemail box. What about using voicemail, especially when you leave a well thought out brief and well done message, how it can actually encourage a call back on the other end where maybe there was no intention before. I also don’t know about anyone else, but I still screen many of my calls and I judge the seriousness of the call by one basic criteria: whether the individual leaves a voicemail or not.

 

We must also keep in mind that voicemail is now becoming more and more special, so we can also all use that to our advantage. Remember the days when people sent telegrams? Well voicemail could become that for us very soon. As I also write about in my book, voicemail is part of the “game before the game” aka one of the very first steps of forming a great first impression of you in the mind of the person on the other end. A smooth message sends one signal, a bumbling, unfocused one sends another, and not leaving or returning voicemail sends yet another.

 

Therefore I say don’t discard this potential business advantage just yet. Instead, leave a short and sweet, “uh” and “um”-free message (it should only be about 20 seconds) that you record with a purpose. Make sure you use your best phone voice and speak with a smile. Oh, and do yourself a favor and check your voicemails and return them too.