Power Telephone Technique 4

What do you do to control your voice?

Do you stand when making calls?

We really recommend that you stand up when making calls, it opens up the diaphragm, you will breathe better and sound better, if you make a lot of calls try doing a day standing up and a day sitting down….and monitor the results, people we work with are often amazed at the difference….

Does that make sense? I really do recommend you try it as I am sure will notice a difference

Another question Do you Smile?

Very often the simple act of smiling really does make a difference.

For many people the prospect of getting on the phone for a difficult call can fill them with dread so these two simple techniques of standing and smiling can make all the difference making you feel more in control and confident

Does that make sense?

Let’s move on now to another area, problem calls, sometimes we take calls from someone either internally or externally and they are NOT HAPPY!

Do you ever have calls like that?

Can you give us an example of a recent call that was challenging or difficult?

Can you remember a call that turned into a problem or an argument?

We’ve all had them at some point

Let’s for the sake of simplicity assume someone is phoning to complain about something that’s gone wrong and they’re pretty angry, very often our first reaction is to defend ourselves, our team, or our company would you agree?

And when we take that approach what happens is the whole thing can very very quickly spin out of control…..accusations fly….he said …..she said… very soon neither party is listening…not a great outcome

The first thing to do is simple….. LISTEN, and listen carefully, just drop in the odd uh huh so they know you’re listening, it’s sometimes difficult for us to let them,  let off steam and vent their anger…..BUT if we place any value on the relationship this is the best course of action…..like a kettle they will eventually, boil dry!

And whilst we’ve been listening, an area that we’ll touch upon in greater detail in future modules we can make notes of the key points and formulate a considered and measured response.

Does that make sense?

Another great little tip is you can often change the way somebody speaks to you by the way you speak to them.

For example if you have someone who is very loud on the phone or even shouting…..then speak softly……if they are rude then be ultra ultra polite and if they speak to fast ….SLOW down on most occasions this really does work.

Now let’s move on to a very powerful methodology, in conversation and for use on the telephone and that is the power of silence.

Silence maybe golden but it’s also one of the strongest techniques to control a call, a conversation, a meeting or even an interview

When do you use silence?

The most common times we use silence is when we are waiting for a response to a question,

Waiting for acknowledgement

And, thirdly, and probably most importantly, when seeking agreement to a project or buy in on a specific issue.