Would you "robo call" your financial planning clients?

I wouldn’t.

I winced when I saw “robo calls” among the crisis communications tools recommended by a marketer who shall remain anonymous. This person suggested using robo calls to invite financial planning clients to a quickly organized meeting or conference call at a time of crisis.

Robo calls. Those automated, pre-recorded phone messages that jam up my phone line even after I hang up. I don’t care what their topic is. I do not want to be robo-called.

But is there a good alternative for speedy communication with many people? If you’ve got 300 clients, like some investment advisors I’ve known, it isn’t practical to call each one individually. Letters aren’t fast enough. Email blasts require that you have email addresses for all of your clients–and that they pay attention to email. 

Maybe robo calls would be okay if you get your clients’ permission in advance to use this method only in times of crisis.

What do YOU think?