Whether it is you who schedules your appointments with your prospects or an assistant of yours who makes the calls, it is important you know how to be effective on the phone.  Who is better to teach your assistant how to be an effective phone communicator than you?   After all, if you have a level of customer service you want to uphold, a type of experience you want your prospects to have when communicating with your company, or a conversion ratio you will use as a measurement of success, then it’s a good idea to be able to set the example.

Keys to success while phoning your prospects

Always share your golden points

There are things that make you unique or different than your competitors, and those are your golden points.  Make sure you are mentioning them to your prospects.  If your sales call is quicker than most, share that.  If your appointment will be personalized and fun, it’s good to let them know.  If your prospect was referred...

Using the phone for appointment scheduling used to be a skill that nearly anyone could
learn easily, because people were normally using the phone for all communication that
wasn’t face-to-face.  Now, with the popularity of emails, texting, and social media as means
of communication, an individual with elevated phone skills is becoming a sought after asset.
To be marketable and successful in business, it’s advantageous to develop good phone
communication skills. 

I propose that there will never be a time when phone communication will not exist in business.  No matter how technologically advanced we become as a society, many professionals will always do a portion of their conversing via telephone or video chat, and their voices will come into play.  The cell phones of the world will always be used to convert voices to binary information and send them across a frequency from one person to another; they will not solely be used for typed responses. Phone...

Of the three areas that make up our communication (words, vocal qualities, and physiology), many believe the last is the most important.  They say your body language, facial expressions and gestures express more meaning than your words. 

Professionals who read nonverbal communication regularly to enhance their understanding of people include law enforcement agents, counselors, jury selection consultants and speech analysis technicians.  However, you don’t have to be in one of those careers to have a grasp on the basics of body language.  Recognizing a few fundamentals will help you in reading people as well as effectively projecting your desired message to others.

Confidence:

Standing or sitting with shoulders back and chin up is the most confident posture.  Slouching, tucking your fists into crossed arms, or fidgeting are signs of unease.  While standing, keep your hands out of your pockets and your legs apart a bit.  It is good to steeple...

While reading Lend Me your Ears by William Safire – a book of great speeches, I’m reminded of a lesson I learned years ago that still rings true today.  Preparing for multiple future outcomes can provide many benefits in both the present and the future– when you’ll experience the not-yet-known result.

The future benefits include:

• Appearing clever when reacting to whichever result occurs
• Less emotion attached to the outcome
• Strategies already in place or quickly implementable

The present benefits include:

• Decreasing fear or anxiety
• Ample time for strategic thinking

The reason Mr. Safire’s book reminded me of this topic is because within the great passages of his script, he shares the speech he wrote for President Nixon to use in the event that Apollo XI was an unsuccessful mission.  When the astronauts landed on the moon, two types of speeches were written – one for celebrating the...

The communication we have with others is made of three components:  word choice, vocal qualities, and physiology.  The order of importance has been debated throughout the years, but one thing is agreed upon – each of the three plays a role.

Word choice: 

• Be concise.
• Be clear by articulating.
• Choose words your audience will understand.

Physiology:

• Be mindful of your facial expressions, gesture, and body language.
• Minimize nervous ticks or distracting physical habits.
• Remember the saying, “Actions speak louder than words.”  If you are using happy words, but your face looks angry or your posture looks sad, your joyful verbiage is likely to be dismissed.

Vocal qualities include: tone, word emphasis, speed and volume. 

You’ve heard people use tone to help make their point. Think of any time your parent, significant other, or teacher said your name – probably your full name, and said it with a strong, loud tone.  How did you...

If you chose to train as a basketball player, and you could choose anyone in the world to be your personal basketball coach, whom would you choose?

You’d most likely choose someone like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, or Tim Duncan.

If you wanted to be successful as a musical artist, and you could choose anyone in the world to be your personal music mentor, whom would you choose?

That answer would probably be someone like Justin Timberlake, Madonna, Diddy, Jennifer Lopez, Toby Keith, Steven Tyler, or (insert your favorite artist here).

What if you wanted to be a successful investor?

What if you wanted to be successful in relationships?

If you are going to learn from someone, why not learn from the best?  Someone that has done successfully what you want to do and knows how to do it and how not to do it.  They’ve already been through the trial and error portion of their path to success and have learned invaluable information along the way.  You can benefit...

Deliberate Acts of Kindness

It’s no surprise that when one person does something nice for another, the recipient is more likely to do something nice for a third person, and so on.   Research has shown that just as acts of aggression toward others can lead to a chain reaction of aggressive behavior in others, so too do acts of generosity lead to more generous behavior in the recipients.  If you want to help mold your college campus, work environment or community into a kinder place, it starts with being the altruistic example.

Will you commit to doing at least one of these acts every day?  If you do, you'll see the impact it has on you and those around you.

Acts of kindness:

• Say "please" and "thank you" and really mean it.
• Say "Good morning" to people you cross paths with in the morning.
• Put a shopping cart back in its holder – even if it wasn’t one you used.
• Take off your shoes when you enter someone’s home, without being...

(Customer Relationship Management)

If you are in a business or organization in which repeat business with people who have already used your product or service is a goal of yours, this topic will help you.

Implementing a contact management program (which I use as a customer database) into my business
has had an undeniable impact on our profits, customer communications, and efficiencies.   Previous to using a database, my system consisted of filing receipts and entering basic information into an Excel spreadsheet – which is the least you should be doing if you are not going to use a CRM.

 The benefits of using a database are as follows:

• Target market for events, I can send emails or direct mail to customers when I’ll be at an event in their area.  Often it will include a promotion such as bring or mention this coupon to receive an extra 10% off your order at the event.
• Invite service call requests from customers when I know I’ll be in their...

We checked in to our room at a sunny resort in Dominican Republic, thanked our bellman with words and cash, and I kicked off my shoes.  Filled with excitement for the coming week with plans of relaxation, spending time with our friends, and exploring the area, we began to unpack. 

Since I used my computer during travel, it was low on battery, so I pulled it out of the bag and bent down to plug it into the outlet under the desk.  After standing, I attached the cord to the power outlet on the laptop and received a little zap.  “Got my finger in between the two metal pieces,” is what I thought.

I proceeded to move the laptop to the corner of the desk so it would be out of the way, and when I touched the metal laptop case, I received my second shock.  A vibration shot up my arm.  This time, I let out a small shriek as I jumped back.

That got my husband’s attention.  He asked me what I was doing, so I explained the zaps I was...

Begin With Making Them Feel Good

While in a parking lot, walking from my car to the grocery store, I was approached by an elderly woman.  She was standing at her open trunk with her grocery cart parked right behind her car.

“You look strong.”  She said to me.  “Could you help me put this watermelon in my car?”

I was happy to oblige.  After getting her groceries nestled in her trunk, I bid her farewell and headed into the store.  I couldn’t help but think of her approach as I shopped.

Start with a compliment

Before I ran into her, I can’t remember a time when someone’s very first words to me included a compliment.  Even before I knew what was happening, I felt good, was smiling, and was happy to help before she even asked.  What a brilliant approach, I thought.  Make someone feel good right away.

How will you make people in your life feel good today?  This week?  This month?  There are...