And Speaking Of... Picking Up The Phone

In an age of texting, DM-ing, emailing, and all the ways you can think of that lead to a nonverbal form of communication, I'm learning that the art of picking up the phone and speaking directly for one-on-one human communication is lost.?

Over the weekend, my 13-year-old son Ethan went to an outdoor mall with three friends. This was his first outing with his friends unsupervised (rest assured, there were parents having dinner nearby). On Saturday afternoon, my son had asked me how to make a reservation at the restaurant they wanted to visit. When I told him he needed to pick up the phone to make the reservation, he looked at me like I had two heads.?

“Isn’t there a chat feature on the website?” was his immediate question.

When I told him that he couldn’t always depend on technology and that sometimes you need to pick up the phone and have a conversation with a human being to make something happen he said, “I am too young to do that.”?

I set my son straight and told him firmly and clearly that he was not too young to pick up the phone to handle this task and needed to follow through with this now more than ever. I coached him on what to say, and then he took up the allegedly daunting task of talking on the phone and got the job done.?

I believe some tasks are best left for a conversation. So much often gets lost in translation, and without body language and/or tone and cadence, we often jump to incorrect assumptions and conclusions. This tends to make us overthink situations or read too much into the communications.?

I am a huge advocate for a video call in any and all scenarios, especially if you are in a rapport building phase. So many of our Gifted Travel Network advisors use videos to do all their initial consult calls and find this way of starting the conversation leads to a high closing rate for trips they present to clients and prospects.?

There is so much to love about technological advancements, but that doesn’t mean we should throw away the art of picking up the phone or asking for a video call when relevant. How do we teach this lost art?

My son also recently heard me leave a voicemail for a colleague and told me I impressed him with my “voicemail voice.” This made me laugh and realize that the task of leaving a voicemail is also something that is not necessarily being taught.

When was the last time you left a voicemail? I know colleagues that don’t even listen to theirs! Sad, but true.?

My article this week is one to really think about, right? How do we encourage more voice and video calls in an age of texting? Would more be accomplished if we just picked up the phone vs. send another email or text?

I would love to know your thoughts on this topic, and also your feedback on if 13 was too young to learn how to make a dinner reservation (mainly so I can selflessly tell my son that he is in fact old enough for this task!)

Share your comments below!?