When I receive a call from a phone number I don’t recognize, I almost always send the call to voicemail. I have found that most of these phone calls are either marketers trying to sell me something (like SEO people) or they are inquiries about a domain name.
I think it’s a wise move to send inquiry phone calls to voicemail. In fact, it might be smart to set up a phone line that is only for your Whois records so that all calls can be automatically sent to voicemail without your having to wonder if it’s a friend calling from a different phone number or someone else calling about personal matters.
Sending inquiry phone calls to voicemail is good for a number of reason. Obviously, the most important reason is that you’ll have time to research the potential buyer or company making the inquiry. The person on the other end of the line is likely prepared to discuss your domain name, and you might be at a negotiating disadvantage if you pick up and get right into a negotiation without any preparation.
When you receive an inquiry over the phone, it might not be an opportune time for you to speak. I hate chatting when I am busy with other things, and if I want to have a conversation about a domain name I own, it should be at a time that is convenient for me. I can call the person back when I am ready.
Finally, assuming you don’t have the price of your domain name in front of you, you’ll want to do a bit of research on the domain name and market for similar domain names before you price yours. Yeah, you might have paid $5,000 for a domain name and will be happy with $10,000, but if you find that a buyer has been paying up to $30,000 for particular domain names, it will benefit you to have that information.
I agree with every point you made.
Over 10 yrs ago, I set up a phone number strictly for whois.
10 yrs ago, 99% of the phone calls I received were from –
hosting companies,
people who lost the domain and begging me or threatening me,
people wanting to buy the domain for $ 10.
people I had to educate what a domain was worth,
lawyers that were trying to entrap me for cybersquatting,
etc., etc.
I realize I missed a lot of opportunities.
But, my blood pressure is lower because I don’t have to deal with all of the threatening calls.
Sounds like a smart move. I think I should change my blog Whois phone number 🙂
The most important inbound calls tend to be made when one’s on the potty. 😀 Having an answering machine helps. TGIF!
‘Dislike it’ for referencing an answering machine.
You must have been born after 1999.
I have recently started doing this on all Namejet purchases and new domain registrations.
People can be downright nasty sometimes!
I never pickup a call where I don’t recognize the caller ID unless I’m expecting a service call at my house.
I’m sure most know about this but on the flip side, when you want to leave someone a quick message, SlyDial works well as it goes straight to voicemail for mobile phones.
Never heard about that… nice.
That’s especially good if someone called and didn’t leave a message. I can get their voicemail info to see who called.
Those are more good points for not answering.
My viewpoint has always been that if the reason for the call isn’t worth leaving a voice message … than it’s not worth my time talking to them.
The sales-pitch folks have gotten even sneakier with phone-number spoofing; where they’re able to have local phone numbers show up on your caller ID in their efforts to get you to answer your phone.
That SlyDial is pretty neat!
I agree with everything you said, but I took it one step further and got rid of voicemail altogether this year. I really don’t want phone conversations because it slows me down, and the reasons you mentioned, etc..
What I have found out, by my guesstimate only, is that more than 90% of those inquiring for domains will send an email minutes after not getting voicemail. Sometimes they call call a second or third time and then send the email.
Also, using a jumbo caller ID so you can read it from across the office or hallway is a plus so you don’t have to keep running to the phone each time to see who’s calling. Not many companies are making them anymore and my favorite one was just discontinued, but I found this Emerson on Amazon.
No affiliate link is included. There are others, but the run up to and over $100.
http://www.amazon.com/Emerson-Jumbo-Talking-Caller-Units/dp/B005E94YPO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1367611154&sr=8-2&keywords=jumbo+caller+id
Not sure about incoming calls going to voice, but as far leaving a voicemail, I find that leaving a proper message can ber a very effective sales tool. In fact, I’d say I close 30% of all sales that started with leaving a message. It’s amazing how many sales people don’t bother doing this.
Google Voice numbers are free.
Get one and use it for whois. When you get a message, you can listen to it right from your gmail inbox.