Why Saying “Call Me” Doesn’t Work

I got a direct message through Facebook last night. It was a message from a friend who also is a marketer but a bit more of an old-school salesman. It's not too odd because as online marketers, we're always trying new tools and methods. Especially when it comes to acquiring new customers.

I'm not going to beat him up over the message. What really stood out was the Call To Action (CTA). “Call me” and his number.

So why doesn't “Call me” work? I mean, sales people have been using it since the phone became popular. Because at best, it only nets the 3-5% who are Ready Willing & Able (RWA) to act now. It loses out on the 95-97% who might be RWA in the future, but aren't there right now.

Notice I said act. I didn't say buy. That's because those people who call are just willing to respond.  Only a small subset will be RWA to buy.

I figured it was an automated message. Not just because of the content, but the timing as well. It arrived at 11:54p est. That guarantees it gets put aside for “later.” And even with the best of intentions, later rarely happens.

You have to remember, the internet is 24/7. People will be there at all times. And as Murphy's law dictates, it will be when you're not available.

I asked him about why he used “call me” as the CTA vs. getting them into a funnel. He said,

“I think that too many people think that they can do everything online these days… but I believe in relationships and actually getting to know people.”

I get the idea of being personal. Email can be personal as well. Its purpose is not to replace the conversation, but to start it. If they reply to your email, you don't just let the next message handle that. You give them a personal reply. And segmenting allows you to send messages tailored to their specific interests.

But email marketing has several distinct advantages over a phone call.

1.) You're not wasting time with tire kickers and brain pickers.

You filter and find RWA's and only invest your (limited) time with those who will bring a return on that investment.

2.) You have control over the contact process.

Calls can come in at any, all, and especially the wrong times. You often even get them at the same time and somebody gets put aside. You're in the bathroom; you just got pulled over for speeding; you're at your daughter's recital. The “wrong” times are many and varied.

3.) You can follow up again & again on their terms.

How many times can you follow up with phone calls without being a pest? With email, you are (or should be) giving something of value. Then you leave it to them to take action.

Have you ever got a phone call when you're in the middle of something? Your calls hit other people's bad timing too. But an email allows them to get to it when they can focus on that task, reading and acting on email.

While sales can be made over the phone, beginning relationships and finding who is ready for a phone call is better handled by email. You can scale far beyond even the ability of a team of operators standing by. And then easily work the numbers instead of playing “a numbers game.”

Would you like to stop playing games and get customers now?