I receive a dozen or so inquiries for services a week. Around 10-15% of those calls are made while the person is driving. Of those, only a small percent end up being effective conversations.
In the study referenced in the link, drivers but not passengers in a “moving” simulator retold a smaller number of central story elements, such as the nature of a robbery. They described nearly 70 percent of story elements correctly in an unmoving car, as did passengers. That figure fell to 60 percent while driving on straightaways and to 50 percent while going through intersections. Passengers’ accuracy at retelling stories remained the same regardless of condition.
I’ve decided I will always ask the caller if I can call them when they’re not driving. And then I do. And it’s always worth the delay. Why?
Three reasons:
1. It’s dangerous. There are plenty of posts about this.
2. Conversational quality DIVES. Nothing I say, beyond the most basic information, is absorbed by the driver/caller. I think the conversation has around 1/3 the bandwidth of a normal, seated conversation and probably 1/10 the quality of a person to person visit. The questions that are asked, the responses to my questions, everything is just reduced by 50 IQ points. It’s not worth it.
Safety concerns aside, if the quality of a conversation matters to your business, then it is best to reserve your conversation for times when you are not operating a motor vehicle.”
Psychologist David Strayer of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City
3. I will be taking the conversation seriously, and not driving. Whenyou call to ask about SEO, I guarantee I will give you my full attention in thoughtful answers. But what good does it do if my responses are not absorbed because you’re avoiding the 18-wheeler next to you? It’s a waste for everyone. In addition, it feels like that you’re not taking the SEO/SEM part of your business quite as seriously as you need to to work with BuzzMaven successfully. It may not be true, but it’s a first vote against a project’s success.
So, get where you’re going, and give me a call – we’ll talk SEO at the highest level and I’ll help your business fly.
