By Kathleen Dryden
Social Graces Perfected
www.socialgracesperfected.com
When the call came I was enjoying a quiet late evening at home on the sofa, with knees drawn to my chest under a fleece
blanket, a good glass of wine and a crackling fire in the fireplace. Tired from a long day of research and having the phone
glued to my ear for most of the day, I felt very deserving of my peaceful evening and was in no mood to talk.
The caller ID showed "out of area" and the answering machine wasn't close enough to entice me from my comfortable position
to use it for call screening. Succumbing to the little voice in my head that whispered, "It might be an emergency," I put
aside the urge to not answer and greeted the caller with a friendly "Hello."
You guessed it: I encountered the unsolicited and dreaded late evening caller whose persistence provoked me to become someone
I thought I would never become as I attempted every courteous method at my disposal to end this disruptive and annoying call.
On a quest for success to sell or promote a product or cause, improperly trained telephone users appear to believe it's
their civil right to intrude into the privacy of others and become offended when asked, "Which part of 'No, I'm not interested,'
don't you understand?"
Equally offensive are the callers whose ability to manipulate past a company switchboard interrupts the important schedule
of professionals in a business office.
On the other side of the coin are the kind callers with the perfect phone voice.
Their conversational skills are so impressive that we often base their credibility and reputation on their skillfulness
and if we don't know them we may even desire to meet them. After all, their kindness and respectfulness provokes us to fall
in love with the romantic feature of courteous professionalism.
The purpose for placing a phone call is to transmit information. Personal courtesies and business professionalism are great
advantages for softening a call's intrusion into the private world of an individual or business.
Telephone etiquette and courtesies equal face-to-face interactions and deserve mutual respect, which will disengage insensitive
or rude responses. Our goal is to build a good report and phone line reputation with the party being called, remembering that
credibility and reputation are on the line --the telephone line.
We should never expect to speak to someone without first offering a friendly greeting and an appropriate personal identification.
It's correct to give first and last names and the name of the organization represented, unless the call is to someone close
in relationship or with whom there is daily conversation and a personal identification would be a stiff formality.
If someone other than the person being called answers the phone it's always courteous to offer a personal identification
before asking to speak to Mr. or Ms. XYZ.
Other methods for building credibility and a good line reputation include organizing thoughts in a few notes before placing
a call, avoiding chitchat or personal conversation and being sensitive to the valuable time of the person being called.
Chewing, making irritating noises and yelling or talking to others in your presence while talking on the phone is disrespectful
to your phone partner and should be avoided.
Allow a caller to maintain control of his call by introducing himself even though you've already seen his name on the caller
ID.
When ending a call, the overused and insincere clich/ "Have a nice day," should be replaced with a more effective phrase
and the caller should be allowed to hang up first.
A phone call is designed to transmit information and is an intrusion into someone's privacy. Everyone deserves to receive
a warm and friendly hello and an appropriate goodbye.
Our objective should be to build the phone voice others fall in love with, build personal credibility and a good line reputation,
maintain personal courtesies and exercise business professionalism that prevents plummeting a company's credibility.
