‘Stop telephonin’ Me
[by Ellen Boughn]
Lady Gaga has it right when it comes to the interrupting phone call:
‘Stop telephonin’, me. Stop telephonin’, me.
(I’m busy). (I’m busy)’, she sings.
When you pick up the phone to call a client, it had better be about something they want to hear. And cold calls? If the reception on the other end is closer to freezing than in the past, there is a reason.
Our means of communication have greatly expanded in the past decade. At the same time, most people are doing the work of the two or three of their colleagues that have been laid off. Nothing starts a conversation off on a worst foot than an insistent ring tone that has shattered one’s concentration.
I talk to photographers every week but I do it at a time that is mutually agreeable and established previously via email. We generally speak via SKYPE as I often have clients in other countries. We have the added advantage of being able to see each other via SKYPE video.
I like keeping up with the industry via blogs like this one and keeping track of my colleagues via twitter and facebook. I use email mainly for important communications with businesses other than individual photographers.
I can’t say how many art buyers feel the same as I do but for me the office telephone is obsolete and its ring makes me want to scream.
Ellen Boughn is a consultant and writer. She offers one-time mini-consults to photographers for $39.00 here: www.ellenboughn.com/ask-ellen
4 Responses to '‘Stop telephonin’ Me'
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You got that wrong Ellen. As a photographer, I want to speak with a real, live person. I’ve found that the picture researchers I dealo with feel the same – most appreciate a tel call as a relaxing break in their day of “doing the work of two or three others who’ve been laid off”.
I couldn’t agree more Ellen. The phone does have a jarring affect these days, particularly when I’m deep in concentration. I wanna pick it up and say WHAT?! What on earth is so important that justifies your need to talk to me now? Not when an email gets the job done and provides a clear, documented dialog. Sure, there’s times when we need to discuss nuances and writing them takes too long. But most of the time, I’m with Ellen… phone calls are so 2001!
Ellen,
If someone calling you on your telephone really makes you want to scream, perhaps you are in the wrong business.
Photographers are in a service industry. As a supposed consultant to photographers, you are too.
If you can’t deal with someone who needs to say a few words to you in person, or you are so incapable of carrying on a short conversation on the phone without screaming about the interruption, then you are in the wrong business, my friend.
Do you have even the slightest clue as to how many photographers would love to receive even short phone calls from clients (or prospective ones) these days?
You not wanting to be “bothered” by such communication is pretty snooty, and implies you have better things to do than to talk to real people (and real clients) about potentially real work.
You do a disservice to your photographer clients when you promote such attitudes.
Hello Jeff and John…you missed something. This statement above, ‘I talk to photographers every week but I do it at a time that is mutually agreeable and established previously via email.’ Note “mutually agreeable” I respect other people’s time and appreciate it when they realize that, like them, I’m on deadlines.
Do you like getting phone calls in the middle of a shoot? Do you like someone in a different time zone calling you without thinking about what time it is where you are?
I hope my attitude is the opposite of snooty: but expresses my respect for the time of those that I deal with and allows them and me a process to establish a mutually agreeable time. It also allows both parties time to prepare for the conversation and eliminates needless chatter as papers shuffle and emails are searched for as one tries to figure out what the call might be about on the fly.
Finally I’m not suggesting that clients don’t call photographers. Yes that is a welcome call provided there is good news on the other end.
And hey, no need for the “supposed” consultant. I am one.