Today’s little rant may not be as universal as one about tailgating or saggy pants, but it’s still about a broad subject that does affect us all: good manners.
In my line of work – publishing a newspaper – sales are an obvious necessity. A publication cannot exist without two things: readers and advertisers. The first, I’ve got thousands of; the second, I’m always searching for more of. Does it bother me when I make a pitch to someone and they say no? Not really, although sometimes it can be frustrating. I realize people have to make their decisions, and budgets are limited.
No, there’s something else I hate, and I’ve been seeing it for more than a quarter of a century. It’s when you reach out to someone (about an ad) and their answer is the silent treatment. I am not Mister High Pressure Salesman; I’m his opposite. But if I think of someone who would benefit from exposure to my readers, I’ll try phone calls, personal visits, e-mails and even snail mail to reach them. It’s amazing how difficult it can be to get a couple minutes of someone’s time.
When I get virtually no response my reaction is usually, “They’re clearly not interested.” But part of my brain is also saying, “How do you know the receptionist put your paper on the right person’s desk? What if the person you called accidentally erased your message? What if she intended to call you and lost your number? What if your e-mail landed in a spam folder and they never saw it?”
I always operate on those assumptions and ignore the silent treatment. As a result, there are people I’ve been sporadically trying to contact for years without the courtesy of a reply.
I can take no for an answer. I do it all the time. I usually keep calling, even if only once a year or less, until I get a clear yes or no. It’s time-consuming. Honestly, my assumption is that most of the time they did get my messages and the silent treatment is just their chosen way of saying “I’m not interested.” But in the absence of a reply I’m never quite sure.
Is this rude? Is it bad business manners? I think it is. And for the record, I’ve done it too. But never when someone called me – personally, by name – or someone wrote to me – personally, by name. It takes all of 30 seconds to click Reply and type, “Thanks, but at this time I’m not interested.”
Why can’t people do that?
Is it because they never got any of my messages in the first place?
Possibly, yes.