Making Your Phone Disappear At the Perfect Moments

• 00:04 I haven't talked to you about one of the most powerful ways you could ever use your
• 00:09 phone in business.
• 00:10 One of the most powerful ways you can cement your reputation with your boss,
• 00:15 clients, customers, a way this phone can enhance your credibility dramatically.
• 00:22 What's that secret?
• 00:25 The off switch.
• 00:28 What do I mean by that?
• 00:29 Well, if you're in a meeting, if you're in a face to face meeting with a client,
• 00:35 prospect, a customer, an important colleague, turn your phone off.
• 00:41 It's insanely annoying to people if they're talking to you and
• 00:44 your phone, hang on one minute, I gotta take this and they don't know what it is.
• 00:49 For all they know, you're just placing a bet with your bookie or something.
• 00:54 So my recommendation, if you want to really send a signal to a client,
• 00:59 customer, prospect that hey, you are important.
• 01:03 Your time is important.
• 01:04 Your business is important.
• 01:07 My relationship to you and your organization is important.
• 01:10 Turn your phone off.
• 01:12 I don't mean just on vibrate.
• 01:15 Because if it's vibrating and lights are flashing but not ringing,
• 01:18 it's human nature, you're going to look, they're going to look.
• 01:22 And there's a part of you that's going to think,
• 01:25 is there a chance this is more important?
• 01:28 Probably isn't.
• 01:29 But it's going to take you away, it's going to send a signal to the person
• 01:33 you're meeting with in person that they are not important.
• 01:37 Well, guess what?
• 01:38 Nobody likes to be told they're not important and
• 01:40 they might not be that important, but you don't have to rub it in their face.
• 01:44 So know how to turn your phone off.
• 01:47 I would recommend you not put it on the table.
• 01:50 So many people go into meetings these days, and their cell phone is there.
• 01:56 And worse is when they start playing with it.
• 01:58 That's the absolute worst.
• 02:00 We've all been bored at meetings or conferences.
• 02:03 It's one thing if you're at a convention and there's a big keynote speaker and
• 02:07 you're in the dark and you're on the 18th row.
• 02:09 And the speaker is not that interesting.
• 02:12 Well, sure, you check email, you check the sports scores.
• 02:15 But if you're in a meeting and someone's talking and
• 02:20 you're on your phone, it's frankly about the same as spitting on them.
• 02:26 You might not feel that way but just realize other people do.
• 02:31 Do you like it when someone spits on you?
• 02:32 Do you like it when someone tells you your time, your ideas are completely worthless?
• 02:39 Now we're not here to talk about family relations and whether teenagers or other
• 02:43 family members are on their cell phone at dinnertime, that's a different course.
• 02:48 I'm not going there.
• 02:49 I'm talking about just in business situations.
• 02:54 You really are not using the full potential, the power of your cell phone,
• 03:00 unless you know exactly how to not only turn it off, put it away.
• 03:05 In fact, really important meeting, don't even take it in with you.
• 03:11 I understand life is messy and complicated.
• 03:13 There are exceptions, but you need to plan for the exceptions and lay the groundwork.
• 03:20 So if you have a meeting with your boss, but the most important client to your
• 03:24 company is planning on calling you, they said I'll call you tomorrow morning,
• 03:29 we gotta resolve this one issue, it'll only take two seconds.
• 03:33 Then I would say to my boss, I have this out just because Mr.
• 03:38 Smithers is calling and he has one quick question and
• 03:42 I promised I'd be available to him.
• 03:45 And your boss is going to realize that Smithers is the person paying everyone's
• 03:50 bills because it's the most important client,
• 03:52 your boss isn't going to be offended.
• 03:55 And have it out and let the person know.
• 03:58 You could also have something that any fair minded person
• 04:01 considers a very important personal issue that should take precedence.
• 04:06 You could say, excuse me, everyone, I don't mean to be rude, but
• 04:10 a close family member is about to have a baby,
• 04:13 I'm expecting a call from the hospital at any time.
• 04:17 It's the only call I would take, that's why my phone is out.
• 04:20 No one's going to be offended by that.
• 04:22 Or if you have a family member who's in the hospital and said, look,
• 04:27 I have this out just because I might be getting a call from the hospital,
• 04:31 my father's in intensive care.
• 04:34 No one's going to be offended.
• 04:35 But if you just have the phone out and you don't say why, and
• 04:39 you're kind of, yeah, yeah, it's going to cut against your credibility.
• 04:45 You seem like someone who can't focus, who's scattered,
• 04:49 who's just all over the place.
• 04:51 That is not a reputation that's going to enhance your career.
• 04:56 So my recommendation, any important meeting,
• 05:01 phone not just on vibrate but off.
• 05:04 Preferably not visible.
• 05:07 Ideally it's not even in the same room with you.

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