Why do some people refuse to communicate via email?

I think some people like the direct conversation, the back-&-forth texting or direct voice calls.
Personally I like e-mailing, I think it's very useful when reaching out to a large group of people, especially like you said, when you want to get everything down, not forget points, and write in detail.
Probably just, something people prefer as we progress with technology, and smart phones.
Plus, yes some people like the old fashion tele-marketing phone calls over an e-mail, personal preference in my opinion, but you never really know, until you ask the person.
Try surveying the people you reach out to, to understand better.

Response time.

You write an email and then I have to send an email back and wait for a response. If we are on the phone I get to ask my question and you answer.

I have a few colleague that prefer phone so they can dedicate their entire attention to the project and understand the brief clearly so there is no discrepancies.

They actually ask clients to book in phone slots and they will communicate on the phone rather than wasting time too-ing and fro-ing with emails.

I do get the idea, there have been plenty of times when the whole point of a brief I have delivered or vice versa has been misunderstood due to assumptions through email.

I guess it comes down to where you client is based, however it doesn't take too much effort for a quick phone call or Skype call so if that's the way they like to do business don't fight it.

I do draw the line at micro management and being in contact too much that is just annoying and a waste of time. Get the brief, clarify, work and deliver is what I aim to do.

Yes, email is great but on the phone we can get everything settled at one time with instant back and forth. YET, there are many people that will blatantly tell me not to phone them but to email. I just don't get why.

Do you understand now?

It's a personal preference. Just like there are Democrats and Republicans, there are email people and phone people.

Diversity makes the world go round.

Marcia Yudkin

I agree, it is a personal preference that someone does not have any control of. You can still market your product through a phone call and it would not be a problem. Just have a cheat sheet ready just in case you miss out on something. Some prefer phone calls so that they get confidence about the product and have their inquiries resolved then and there. Maybe they do not open their emails so often that's why they prefer to be called instead.

Not fast enough and you have to check it and its to open to the public not specific. This is why people like text and messengers...

I have a few clients that prefer phone over email, but that doesn't mean they will never respond to an email, they're just old school. You've just got to adjust to your clients preference, in the end they're paying us :-)

Email is an easy way to communicate if the person that you are trying to reach is always online and constantly checking their emails. I always check my emails but sometimes it is better for me to speak with someone to get a better understanding and have it done on a personal level. It really varies.

for me, it's better to call the client first then send the details via email so that the client knows it and they can check their emails...
some people didn't open their email as often, sometimes they just open it if they are informed or they expecting mails.

Email is for chickens, no body wants to pick up the phone anymore

I think it's easier to convince customer use your service by phone instead of email.

If they have problem with your service and want to cancel, the only one way to call them back to is call them directly and use sweet voice to convince them don't stop

Email correspondence isn't really a conversation. It's a two way monologue. On a phone, it's close to a real conversation: you have and can use tonality and inflection which add to the conversation... timing, which can be critical in a conversation... there's no buffer as there is with email to hide behind... but to give email its due, for an instant media it can take days and weeks to do what could be accomplished in a five minute phone call, so it's good for that.

As per my understanding, some people do avoid to communicate through email since they have the problem in developing proper content. Some may face zero confidence to communicate through writing. So they used to communicate over the phone.
But I want to conclude that, communication through email is more effective and it may use as past record for any future clarification.

Thanks and regards
Sourav Basu

Because is faster by phone, don't have to wait for the answer like on email, on phone you have a direct conversation.
I think email is good if you don't need a reply very fast.

According to the Dyslexia Center of Utah 15-20% of the population has dyslexia.
Statistics on Dyslexia | Dyslexia Center of Utah

Also something like 20-25% can only read at the lowest level.

In Australia they say 47% of the population is functionally illiterate according to Jan West - Almost half the country is functionally illiterate - ABC Central West NSW - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Having poor reading skills doesn't seem to be a barrier to some people who go into business and many entrepreneurs have only rudimentary education.

If you are targeting people who have started their own businesses you may encounter a high number of people who are not particularly literate and email might scare these people.

I have several friends who run successful businesses but have a very low level of literacy particularly when it comes to written literacy and numeracy.

They fudge their way through.

Saying things like "I've lost my glasses". . .or " My Internet isn't working"

It is only when I've got to know them really well that they've shared their problem.

Don't judge them.

Communicate with people in the way they prefer and you will improve your results.

Best regards,

Ozi

I don't think people refuse to communicate through email. I think email is most important now a days. Though there are lot of ways for communicating with the people now like- viber, whatapps, skype and FB as well. Most people spend their time onto those sites. So, they prefer to reply there. lol

I think some people just work efficiently through direct calls and hate to go through a step by step hassle of replying to each individual connected thread. I think it's an old school way in some sense and sometimes it works better for some people because they are used to it.

Hillary Clinton prefers email.
Bill Clinton refuses email.

There ya go.

I just think they want to hear your voice. Know you are a real person. Its more common for people to want to see you.

You have to talk the way they talk. Some of my clients love email, some love the phone, some love text, some love face to face. Which ever way gets me the quickest response is the way I communicate with them. I have one client who only does FB messenger, its the most reliable way to get a response from her. Adapt to your clients if they won't adapt to you.

This is a great question. I have no idea why people act in that way. Email is a great way to communicate. Allows people to pause and think and get there points across.

However, when you talk, especially in the beginning of a relationship (personal or professional) there is sometimes an awkward moment or two as you get to know one another. Where as email allows you to ignore those awkward moments and get into what you really want to say.

I am not sure why people REFUSE to communicate through email. I guess this thread is more for them to answer in order to answer that question. I have no idea what may be going through there minds for them to even have that way of thinking.

Personally i prefer email to face to face initially. Too many face to face conversations are just sales pitches. Email has to be written and is far more easy seen for what it is.

Yes even I didn't like communicate via email..Then I realized that it's necessary sometimes..So mandatory here..
I feel people like direct chatting or sharing on social media and emailing is more complicated than the others..I think this is why people don't like

people get many spam emails from different websites

so they ignore and refuse to communicate with relevant emails

Sometimes in the correspondence it is difficult to convey emotions.
Also phone is more fast vay to chat.
Finally it can be a habit.

I had this conversation with an older person. She knows how to use email and she uses it, but she still prefers phone calls or visits. She absolutely hates texting.