The Power of Telephones in Business

Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876. Little did he know that his invention would become the most important business and social tool on the planet. In today’s fast paced world, an email or fax travels from point A to point B almost instantly but a telephone call personalizes the event and tends to be the second best form of communication after face to face communication which is the most effective form of communication. However, the majority of today’s businesses are spread far and wide beyond local boundaries and this is where the telephone fits in snugly. It brings people closer together regardless of the geographical distance between them.
The timing is right for this post as it follows on the heels of last week’s focus on ‘The power of relationships’. The telephone is a great place to build and maintain relationships. It eliminates the need for travel for small appointments or meetings whenever necessary. Just like chatting with someone face to face, chatting on the telephone allows all parties involved to pick up different emotions in the voice.
In any business, it is very important to master the art of telephone usage. Most people may say, “Hey I’ve been talking on the phone all my life, what’s so special about it?” Although you grew up using the telephone, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have what it takes to use a phone to conduct your business properly.
Telephone usage goes far beyond the telephone itself. Before picking up the telephone, you need to condition yourself to communicate professionally. You need to WRITE DOWN who you’re calling, WHY you’re calling, WHAT would you like to achieve on the call and you must aim to end ‘on a high’. The person you call should not be able to tell whether or not you’re having a bad day when you call to them. Your GREETING sets the tone for the conversation so make it lively but not overwhelming...just confident. Also you need to recognize the energy level of the person on the other end because you will be very ineffective in communicating clearly to them. If they answer and their tone of voice is at a low, you want to try staying as close as possible to their level and end the conversation on an upbeat note. They should feel uplifted after your conversation.
There are many factors to be looked at with respect to this topic.
Telephone Tools, Telephone Manners and Telephone Skills/Strategies.
I’ll take a look at the telephone tools first:
Tools include a Rolodex, a calendar, a PDA and a cellular phone just to name a few. Phone usage must go hand in hand with these basic tools.
The Rolodex keeps your contacts’ information at your fingertips and in business, time is money so the quicker you can access and retrieve information, the better it will be for your business. It will actually lessen the time spent on the phone and you can keep the communication focused on the issue at hand and be able to complete other tasks quickly as well.
The calendar keeps your schedule at your fingertips and you can set and make appointments quite easily and quickly. Instantly you can see what you will be doing next Thursday at 3:30 or when is your next open slot for interviews. It is also very important to actually calendar your telephone calls. You should treat them exactly as you would treat other appointments because they are just as important.
The PDA, is somewhat of a combination of a Rolodex and a calendar. I have incorporated the use of a Palm Zire Handheld and it saves me lots of time and energy because I have telephone numbers, addresses and calendars in one location for quick and easy access. This makes perfect sense and it is the perfect companion for my laptop which completes my “office”.
The cellphone is next in line and it has become the single most useful and advantageous tool with respect to telephones. Cellphones are convenient indeed and they help you grab time from the future almost literally. For instance, in my business I need to communicate almost constantly so I use my cellphone all the time and everywhere. While at the bank for example, waiting in line, I try to make at least 2 or 3 phone calls in the 10 or 15 minutes waiting time. This is the incredible advantage of being able to build my business whether I have time or not. Whenever anyone tells me that they have no time to build a business such as this, I simply explain this phenomenon of turning wasted time into valuable and rewarding time and most of them get the picture right away and get started. The best cellphones though, are those that have the PDA functionality built into them because you then have the real power in your hands to move at light speed. Another point to note is that you will NEED to use a headset because it can free your hands to do other things such as search for files or navigate your PDA or write down information being conveyed to you.
On Wednesday, I’ll take a look at “Phone Manners”.
Thank you once again for your kind attention. See you on Wednesday.

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