Placing Phone Calls Like the Consummate Professional

• 00:05 Sanjay there or can I speak to Sanjay?
• 00:08 That's not how you make a phone call.
• 00:11 Let's go over some basics now of when you were the one placing the call in
• 00:15 a business setting.
• 00:16 For starters, you need to sound pleasant.
• 00:19 No one wants to deal with someone angry, grumpy, rushed.
• 00:23 You might be having a bad day, nobody else cares.
• 00:28 So for starters, you need to have a pleasant tone of voice.
• 00:31 I don't mean Mr. Happy ha ha, having a nice day.
• 00:33 I don't mean anything fake, cheesy, but just a pleasant tone of voice.
• 00:40 And then you need to cover a few basics.
• 00:42 You need to state your name, your organization, why you're calling.
• 00:49 Hi, my name is TJ Walker, with Media Training Worldwide.
• 00:53 I'm calling Jane to follow up on the request for proposal she asked me about
• 00:57 last week regarding media training for the organization.
• 01:00 Is she available today?
• 01:03 Takes less than 20 seconds, but I've covered the basics.
• 01:08 So I don't force the receptionist or some other administrative assistant or
• 01:13 anyone else to go through all, who is this and why is your call?
• 01:17 Why are you calling?
• 01:18 Can I tell the person who you're with?
• 01:20 I made it all simple, clear, and I'm sending a signal.
• 01:26 I don't know who I'm talking to, it could be an intern,
• 01:29 it could be the CEO of a company.
• 01:30 I'm sending a signal that I'm a professional person.
• 01:34 That I'm respectful of the people on the other end of the phone.
• 01:40 And I like to be treated respectfully too.
• 01:43 So, it sounds obvious, it sounds basic, but so few people do it.
• 01:48 They just say, may I speak to so and so.
• 01:51 And it can be abrupt.
• 01:52 Now if you're calling and you're getting the person directly,
• 01:56 if all you do is say, is Jane there and you're now talking to Jane.
• 02:01 She may be thinking, well, I don't recognize the number, who is this?
• 02:05 I could just say I'm busy, or not a good time.
• 02:09 What are you going to do then?
• 02:10 If you've stated exactly who you are, maybe she was expecting your call,
• 02:14 didn't recognize the number.
• 02:16 Maybe she's happy to speak to someone from your organization about this issue,
• 02:20 even though she didn't know you were going to call.
• 02:23 So state exactly who you are, why you're calling, where you're from.
• 02:30 Let's start off with the basics.
• 02:32 I know it sounds obvious, but it's often not done.
• 02:38 Hi, Samantha, this is TJ Walker, from Media Training Worldwide.
• 02:42 I'm just following up on the email you sent earlier today asking for
• 02:46 a proposal for presentation skills training.
• 02:48 Is this a good time to speak now for five minutes or so?
• 02:54 Ask the person if this is a good time.
• 02:58 It's basic courtesy.
• 03:00 It might not be a good time, but an hour from now might be.
• 03:04 Ask, it's great information, shows you're respectful.

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