I'm constantly amazed by the number of people who reply to my emails by asking me to call them.
If I had the time or inclination to talk to you on the phone, I would have called you in the first place. Since I have contacted you in writing, it would be logical to assume that I would like to continue this conversation in writing until such a time as it becomes necessary or prudent to change to a different medium.
Generally speaking, the people I've encountered who do this "thank you for contacting us by email, now please call me on this number to continue the conversation" thing were either over the age of 50 (particularly men) or salespeople.
I'm not sure why this is.
Those of us in our 30s and under are used to communicating by writing. We spend most of our days exchanging text-messages and email, so it's a medium we feel quite "at home" in.
I suppose "gentlemen of a certain age" spent most of their lives in business communicating by the telephone, so they feel most "at home" using that medium.
This is somewhat ironic, when you think about it. Technology has taken us from a society where most communication (apart from actually talking to a person in the same room) occurred in writing, to a society where we could talk over great distances, to a point where writing is now more convenient than talking, again.
Communicating by text or email gives the correspondents a chance to reply to each other when they have time to think about it, so they can scatter the conversation throughout the day instead of having to nail down a particular time in order to communicate synchronously.
I think Gen Ys, in particular, like having this level of control over the conversation (even if they don't actually give as much thought to their replies as they ought to). Communicating by phone just seems awkward and energy sapping.
Also, I wonder if there is an element of status involved. When communicating by email, you are polite (or, at least, you should be), but not deferential. It's sort of a status-lite zone. Verbal communication, on the other hand, brings with it a whole raft of behavioural expectations that seem like more trouble than they're worth.
So, I think "old dudes" like communicating by phone rather than email because the phone was the key communication tool when they were in their prime, and they feel most in control in that space.
As for salespeople?
I think it's easier to take control of a conversation if it is happening in real time. When you are trying to sell someone something, the last thing you want to do is give them time to think about it.
It backfires, though. Those of us who are text-centric feel uncomfortable talking on the phone, and we avoid it if we can.
Personally, the minute someone says "I got your email, call me," I want to say "No, because I wrote to you."
If you don't want to reply to an email, don't give an email address. See how that works out for you in this 21st century world...
