Public Speaking: Be A Little Phony On The Phone

"Wow! Your phone message is just too happy!" "You've got way too much energy." "How do you stay so upbeat?" These are just some of the comments I get about my voice mail message and my technique for answering the phone. Many times I answer personally and the person on the other end of the line starts to leave a message. They think I'm the voice mail. Hahaha I tell them I answer that way so if I don*t like them I can say "beep" and hang up.

You can't catch me answering the phone poorly. If I feel bad, I still answer the phone in an upbeat manner which sometimes knocks me out of my bad mood. If I feel so bad that I just can't rise to the occasion, then I DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE. It's all part of walking your talk, or I guess in this case you would call it "talking your talk." If I profess to be able to create excitement in the client's organization and I can*t even do it in my own, I've lost a considerable amount of credibility. My interns aren't even allowed to answer the phone until they can absolutely prove that they won't hurt my reputation of being upbeat and exciting.

Listen to your own voice mail message. Is it as enthusiastic as it could be? Does it convey the personality you are selling to the client? How about the way you answer the phone? Would you be proud if I called you and critiqued your technique?

You can sell a ton of products and services just because of the way you act on the telephone. Be a little phony if you're not feeling great, but push yourself toward enthusiasm. Potential clients don't want to hire a dud.

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Sunday, December 7, 2008