Bowman: Honing your phone skills will pay off

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 28 Oktober 2014 | 12.33

Power lunches get all the buzz, but the telephone remains the most important business tool when it comes to the art of the deal.

But you need to know how to use a phone to maximize your success. The telephone — the office phone or a cellphone — is the fastest connection between you and your contact.

For starters, you need to hone your telephone skills and techniques. Being telephone-savvy in business can enhance productivity — and the pros will tell you the way you speak is 85 percent of your message. Start with your voice. It's powerful!

Here's some phone tips worth remembering:

• Use active words and succinct phrasing: You have three seconds to make an immediate impression.

• Enunciate. Practice at home by recording your voice, and study how you sound. Read something in one room to someone in another room so you are forced to better project.

• Use a mirror — imagine your reflection is the other person.

• Smile! You can hear a smile over the line.

• Stand, because it opens your diaphragm allowing you to better project.

• Make your pitch sound as though it is being said for the first time.

• Ensure your surroundings are quiet and not distracting, if you can help it.

Coming across confident over the phone is worth the effort. When answering such common questions as "How are you?" — regardless of how you really feel — offer an upbeat response, thank the contact for asking, address them by their name and inquire about them. A positive attitude sets the tone. Avoid a passive, informal response such as, "I'm good."

To avoid sounding as if you're at a bar with buddies, drink water instead of soda (it helps avoid burping) or have green tea on hand (it packs more caffeine than coffee if you are looking for a burst.)

Always prepare for an interview by writing notes instead of clattering information into your computer, which can be distracting.

Adapt to the situation at hand. If your contact is in emergency mode or fifth gear, you shift into fifth gear and vice versa to let them know you are "with" them, so to speak.

At all cost eliminate the "non words" — "Umm, lemme see," "Uh," "You know." Say, "YES" versus "yeah" or "yup."

Always maintain your high standards of professionalism; show respect. Maintain the mantra, "Grace under pressure!" And above all, as Kenny Rogers said, "Know when to walk away." Your time is precious, so move on to the next call.

Judith Bowman is the president of her own business consulting company.


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