I noticed an interesting phenomenon this spring. While I was getting a sizeable number of requests for various engagements and had turned down over 100 people (average for many Toronto collaborative pianists), my phone wasn't ringing. I wasn't glued to my cell phone the way I had been in previous years but glued to my computer, writing variations on "Thanks for asking, but I am already busy on that date. If you need any other names and numbers, please do not hesitate to contact me, etc.". Still, I found this a quicker and more efficient way to keep in contact with potential clients even though I'm reachable more often via cell than computer.Wondering if others have noticed this, my latest poll featured the question "How do you prefer to contact or be contacted by people?" Here are the results from the 21 replies:
Email 13
Cell Phone 5
Facebook 2
Land Phone 1
SMS/IM 0
The land phone option proved to be less popular than I thought, as was SMS (text messaging for those of you who aren't up to snuff on their tech). Facebook received only two votes, but may just prove to be more popular as time goes on as a primary contact vehicle within the arts community.
Any more comments are welcome on the ongoing debate about contact methods.
I now get the majority of students and jobs via email. I hate phones, so this is just fine by me!
ReplyDeleteI find, too, that communication via email means that things are more clear. And of course it's also good protection; I save all my email correspondence until the job is over so that I can prove I had or had given the proper information. (This has come in handy more than once with students' parents who nearly called ma liar about a lesson day and time or cancellation.)
My goodness Patty, you've opened a can of worms mentioning lesson time conflicts. I have similar issues regarding parents' and students' failing memories and my eventual solution might be to share my calendar via ical subscription. Stay tuned for more on the calendar issue...
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