Basic Phone Etiquette Starts With Very First Words
My Basic Phone Etiquette rant comes from a few calls I have received this week. Today, I thought I would divert from Workers Comp and possibly rant on one area that is becoming very prevalent in running a business. I do not mind marketing calls.
However, the one key area that most of the phone marketers miss overall is to ask the receiver of the call if they are busy or in a meeting. Your product is important to you as the marketer. I understand you are trying to sell your wares in one of the toughest economies in history.
Please ask if I am on another call, in a meeting, or in the middle of something at the start of the call. I have taken time away from what I was doing to answer your call. There is a disturbing trend where the phone marketers just start into their spiel.
Often, I, or any other business person may be in the middle of something that needs addressing at that time. If you ask the question in the above paragraph, you and your company will be remembered as mannerly, business-like, etc.
There have been a few times where I actually might have been interested in your product, but I will never get past the first phone call without that question being asked when I pick up the phone. Of course, the calls to the business phone are screened, so that might be a moot point.
The calls to my cell phone are the ones where I assume anyone that wanted to do business in the future would ask the golden question – Are you in the middle of something? I could be driving, in a meeting, talking with someone on a land line, etc.
OK, so that is the end of my vent/rant. Thanks.
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