How to - Build Your Business - On the Phone - Manners

Manners on the telephone are of utmost importance in business. Generally, people like to be treated well. We all appreciate compliments and politeness. The telephone, since it's so widely used, should be one of the main communication channels where courtesy is employed to the maximum. I try my best to utilise as many of these practices as possible when I'm building my xango business.
For instance, when you call someone, it is important to get their permission to proceed to the conversation BEFORE you begin. Remember, when you call them, the timing may be right for you but not necessarily for them. So what you must do is, be certain to ask,"Is this a good time for us to talk?" or "Do you have 10 minutes?" Mind you, whenever you ask for specific time (10minutes etc), be sure to STICK TO THE REQUESTED TIME and do not exceed. This is very important because it conveys the message to your listener, that you stand by your word and that you respect their time.
More often than not, when you give respect, to get it back just the same. So whenever you begin a telephone conversation, you want to share a nice bright greeting. Your greeting sets the tone for the conversation.
It is also important to LISTEN. Many people have not mastered the art of listening. Never interrupt someone on the phone because it can impose a confrontational type of situation. Listening is the most important thing to do on the telephone. You can do 5% of the talking and control 95% of the conversation when you're a good listener. When you listen to people carefully, you learn quite a lot from them...things they like, their opinions and their concerns. It may take a while to master this skill but it is essential in conversations not only on the phone but face to face as well. Be patient and take your time before you respond to anything. Silence is not a bad thing. It shows that you're thinking about what you're going to say before you say it as opposed to just pitching your deal to your listener using a standard rehearsed speech. Most people respond negatively to this attitude and you will fail BIG in business if you ever do that. After careful listening, you then proceed to tell them about your business in a way that suits them personally. Customisation is very important. If they can't see how your business can fit into their lives, they won't join you, it's that simple. Show them how your business fills a need for them. All of the information you would have gathered earlier from listening to their needs can now be structured in a way that includes their likes and needs and omits their dislikes and negatives. This way, you will always get a favourable response from your listener.
Another point to note when on the phone is that you need to learn to detect people's emotional level. Let's imagine emotions were measured on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being positive or high-spirited. So you call someone up and they answer and they're at a 4 or 5, it would be very dumb and impolite if you were to answer at an 8 or 9. If they're at a 4 then you need to focus on trying to end the conversation on a 5...They should feel lifted after the conversation. What is also important, is if they have a huge distraction in their personal life such as an ill relative or some crisis, you simply say,"I realise this may not be the best time for us to talk, can I call you back in a week?" Immediately they appreciate your concern. The buying mood is a happy mood so it doesn't make any sense to try selling to them if they're not in a good mood. What you've also done here is to instantly set a new appointment for phone conversation. Since the current one is being broken, then you set a new one at the same time.
Thank you very much for your time and attention.

How to - Build Your Business - On the Phone

Business building has so many aspects to it. The list of necessities and requirements for successful business building is an extremely lengthy one. Ergonomics around the office, capable marketing team, assigned accounting unit etc. are some of the main areas that get the most attention when starting a business. Something as simple as using the telephone professionally and properly is often taken for granted because just about everyone has some years of experience using the telephone.
Business phone usage has been the topic of a previous blog and I've decided to touch on the issue again since this blog has grown in readership over the last few months and I want everyone to benefit from this issue of phone use in business building as it is so important to my xango business.
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. Communication is most effective and powerful when it is face to face but the telephone is a great substitute and when phone skills are mastered, your business can go through the roof.
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.
There's a lot more to be covered.

3 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make

A high percentage of businesses are run by very enthusiastic entrepreneurs and the enthusiasm in many cases, overshadows logic. Very often, there are a few mistakes that are very common to different types of businesses.
1) Entrepreneurs tend to go into businesses because they are extremely excited by the idea and they seldom pay attention to the question;"Can I fulfil a need with this business?"
If you are not fulfilling a need, very likely people will not patronise your business. They need a compelling reason to come to your business.
2) Entrepreneurs tend to go into business because they see others making money from a particular service or product.
This does not always turn out to be profitable. Saturated markets are the hardest to penetrate and it can be frustrating especially for an entrepreneur with little or no business building experience. Here in St Vincent, many people open businesses that sell clothing. This is probably the most popular business that I see around and many of them are suffering because about 80% of them sell exactly the same items. Exclusivity in business usually wins. Whenever you stand out and people have a unique benefit of using your business, they will come. Take advantage of situations where you can differ from the crowd. In my opinion, the best application of this concept is in the XanGo company. The product is unique and the process is PATENTED so the EXCLUSIVITY will ensure that the company dominates the field of companies that may attempt to create a similar product in the long term.
3) Entrepreneurs tend to go into business and use generic names or simply some "concoction" of their first name with an apostrophe "s" at the tend. How can you stand out like this? Let's say your name is Lisa Schneider for example. You open a business and instantly decide to call it "Lisa's". A name can either make or break your business. Of course there are huge companies that have used this type of nomenclature very successfully such as Macy's but the business arena is so saturated, it's more beneficial nowadays to come up with a name that begins to tell the story of what your business offers. Payless Shoe Store instantly conveys the idea of affordable footwear. A small number of people who look at a newspaper ad and decide to visit the newly opened "Lisa's" will actually be converted to paying customers. On the other hand, if you were to open a "Payless Shoe Store", the people who see your ad in the paper and decide to visit, are already pre-qualified to purchase your product so a much higher percentage of visitors will actually be converted to customers.
Later on this week, I'll outline the advantages and disadvantages of podcasting and blogging.