Telephone Tricks
A lot of your business life is conducted by phone. These are things I have learned about that.
Even though somebody has accepted your call, always ask if he is busy. Always. “Is this a good time to talk to you?” You may be babbling on and he may be loathing your (necessary) long explanation of the project, whereas letting him call back at his convenience would get you a receptive audience.
Thank people who are “bigger than you” for calling back. Nothing says they had to return your phone call, and the first thing you should do is thank them for calling.
When you call, leave your number with your name—even if you think people already know it.
Don’t try to handle two subjects on the same phone call if one of those subjects is “gratitude.” Don’t call up to thank somebody for whatever wonderful thing he did and then, on the same call, ask for another favor. Sometimes you have to make two separate calls, one of them only to express gratitude.
Use your own judgment about whether to tell a secretary what you want or to try to get through to the boss. If it’s somebody you don’t know, you may need to tell her what you want. P.S. Tell your own secretary charm and compassion are the big two telephone watchwords. She should always act as though she’d love to put the person through but can’t right now, and should ask if she can do anything to help.
Be ruthless with the time-wasters—the ladies at home who have nothing to do but gossip, the friends at their offices who are having a slow day. Wind down from the conversation—”Gerry, I have some people waiting.” “Tom, you were so good to call. I’ll ring up soon.” Learn to use cutoff maneuvers.
Also learn not to answer the telephone. You can have cutoffs on your phone at home. If you’re working late at the office, don’t answer the phone there after five o’clock. It takes courage to ignore a ringing phone, but if you weren’t there you wouldn’t be answering. Just pretend you aren’t there.
Tags: Is this a good time to talk to you, Telephone Tricks