Different Way of Handling Angry Voice Mails

[David Fritch]

I recently sent out a postcard that elicited some very angry responses; people obviously quite upset, 3 threats to sue, profanity, accusations of cowardice etc. 8 of the 11 messages from the mailing were angry. As a result I found that it really pulled me down and gave me a lot of anxiety, to the point that I procrastinated listening to massages over the past month (not a good business practice). I've heard guests on the podcast say they deal with this by saving them in a special file and that they choose to find them as humorous basically laughing at the peoples ignorance. I can understand that, it kind of makes sense, the people are really ridiculous, right? However this method didn't help my anxiety or procrastination, it actually made it worse. 

What I wanted to share with you all was how I worked through it using a counseling technique called 'reversing limiting beliefs'. I won't get into the process but the end result is what is works for me: before I listen to a message I developed an affirmation directed to the prospect who's message I'm about to hear. I say "If you're angry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I realize that your anger and hurt is probably about past experiences or current situations and not about my mailing. I'm really sorry for what you're going through/went through. I forgive you in advance for taking it out on me." 

The short version I actually say is "I'm really sorry about what happened to you. I forgive you for taking it out on me." Then I feel mentally ready to process messages. 

Oh, and I'm never mailing that particular postcard again!