4 Tips When Corona Has You Working the Phones

Every few weeks I meet with a couple of local business people I know for lunch. The conversation is typically casual, involving work, business trends and the general state of affairs. From time to time, one of us will invite someone along whom the others may want to network with, like a realtor or webmaster. These periodic luncheons have been good for all of us, as we take our work seriously and understand the need to expand our circle of friends and connections.

As you an imagine, the last few months has put a damper on our lunch activities. One of my friends, a lawyer, actually arranged a lunch meeting in a local park with another local businessman. Imagine the two of them, sitting on a bench and eating subs. Fortunately for me, I was working out of town that day. 

With the Covid-19 virus as the backdrop, you can see that all of us who do business are trying to adapt to a new set of practices. It's starting to affect all of us, whether you're in sales, law, real estate or food service. The majority of us have seen a drop in sales and productivity which is understandable.

Of course we have one resource at our fingertips that we can still use to our advantage. The telephone is a great way to connect with people, but the rules have changed over the years. "Do Not Call" lists and caller ID make it harder to get in touch with a decision maker. But these are things we have had to contend with for years. 

So what's different now? One thing is that more of us are working the phones than before. And our end results of those calls can vary widely if you aren't used to working the phones. With this in mind, here are a couple of tips that may come in handy.

1. Put a smile on your voice. If you smile when talking, your voice sounds friendlier. I knew a guy that would look into a mirror before making calls and make sure there was an actual smile on his face. Sometimes he'd go over the top and display a giant grin. Either way, he still got results.
2. Cut down on background noise. People can hear papers shuffling, TV's and other conversation. If you have a door that closes, use it.
3. Be respectful of their time. The first thing I ask when I get someone on the phone is "Have you got a minute to talk?" 
4. Schedule your calls as "phone appointments". Let your client or prospect know that you'd prefer to meet in person but that a phone appointment will have to do for now. And just like any other appointment, be prompt and stick to an agenda.

If you have any other ideas or tips you'd like to share, add them in the comments section and please subscribe to this blog. Stay healthy and motivated!

Chris Castanes is a professional speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. For booking information, click here. He's also the president of Surf Financial Brokers selling life and disability insurance in several states