Posted by prudent business communication protocol on March 25, 2001 at 15:35:19:
In Reply to: Contacting Dave Fedderly posted by John Visel on March 24, 2001 at 14:02:30:
Business Communication 101:
In this age of modern communication media, we can choose from email, fax, phone, USPS, Ham Radio (Morse code, voice, sattelite, moon-bounce, etc). We're so used to communication "working" that we naturally assume a slow response indicates some sort of problem on the *other end* of the "line".
In a professional setting, I've learned that whenever I communicate by a method where I cannot ensure the other party has actually received my message (email, fax, voice mail), that it's very prudent to follow up with a real-time phone call ASAP, to be sure the message was received. There are many, valid reasons why someone might not ever receive an email or fax that you *think* was successfully sent. In this case, it's the responsibility of the sender to verify their communication was sent, 'cause if it wasn't, the recipient is completely unaware of the missing communication.
In the case of David Fedderly, you *might* find when calling his business that there's an explanation on his answering machine, gloating about his current beach experience, and expressing his sincere regret that he can't reply to your query immediately. But even if not, I can assure you that someone who has a retail business with a good reputation isn't simply ignoring you. I'd also wager that giving his business a call would be a good idea. Since David prefers to do business by phone, "person-to-person" (in my experience), I'm guessing he'll return phone messages before email messages, assuming he has an answering machine to take your message.
Good luck,
Steve Inman
Kokomo IN