Brevity is the concise and exact use of words in writing or speech. Brevity isn’t rude or angry, but instead demonstrates that you value time and real connection.
Be brief with …
voicemail greeting
You do not need to include:
- I’m away from my phone (obviously)
- You’ve reached my cell phone (who cares?)
“Hi, this is ___________. Please leave a message.” will work.
voicemail message
This is a one-way conversation. Stick to the details and save the rest for the actual phone call.
- Reply All is rarely necessary. Use sparingly.
- When sending a mass email, use Bcc.
- Follow 5 rules for email sanity.
blog posts
Use the most important words and dump the rest or as Hemingway said, “write drunk, edit sober.”
social media
Say less and we will listen more closely.
Brevity and kindness are not mutually exclusive. Demonstrate your loving kindness by respecting the limited resources of time and attention.
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Yes, please! Do these. Lovingly.
I love this. What I need help with is dealing with customers who call me at work and trying to cut them off without being rude. Many times I have to interupt them and say, “Bottom line, what is it that you need?” I know it sounds rude, but I feel like my head will explode from their ramblings.
And I realize this comment isn’t the least bit brief… sorry!
A better approach might be … “i’d love to schedule a time to talk, but how can I be helpful right now?” or “I’d be happy to call you back when I finish X, but is there something I can help you with immediately?”
There’s a distinction here.
If what they’re calling about is legitimately urgent (i.e. you’re in a support role of some sort, with corresponding obligations, or something is on fire) then you need a way to decipher their ramblings in real-time.
But if what they’re calling about isn’t urgent, then all you need to do is find a way to nip the call in the bud and re-schedule it for a convenient time.
I would never ask a rambling customer “How can I be helpful right now?”, because experience tells me that’s an invitation for them to continue rambling. You want to avoid that at all costs.
A simple “I’m in the middle of a project right now, but I’d be able to call you back in a couple hours/days/whatever. Does (fill in a timeframe) work for you?” can steer the conversation to scheduling instead of discussing their problem.
If they’re already rambling from the get-go, interrupt with “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I’d like to give this the time it deserves, and I’m not able to do that right now….” before the scheduling request.
Just a thought.
Short. Sweet. To the point. I like it!
i’m still working on “brevity and kindness aren’t mutually exclusive” since i often get accused of being rude or curt in situations. but i think i a lot of that comes from social norms telling us we all need a few mins of small talk or need to be overly nice (maybe it’s just a canadian thing? ha).
me getting to my point doesn’t mean i hate you, it means i respect your time.
If we can all start with the assumption that people are good and mean well, we can do better business together.
Hi Courtney. I love hoe your ideas are so sweet and to the point…I’m beginning to think that way. All your ideas are realistic and courteous and we need more of that these days! Thanks for posting.
An interesting potential exception might be a heating contractor I know. His message says:
“Hello, this is ______. You’ve reached the job phone that I carry with me. I can’t get to the phone right now, but please leave your name, phone number, and a brief message. I’ll call you back as soon as possible.”
The idea is to convey that a message will be responded to quickly, rather than getting dumped in a voicemail that doesn’t get checked until the end of the day. Since a call may be about a person being out of heat in the winter, that’s a feature that he considers important.
I still think “I can’t get to the phone right now” might be redundant, but the clarification that it’s a cell phone instead of a landline might actually be useful in this case.
I always think it’s interesting when a perspective shift gives a different answer to a problem.