How To Conquer the Interruptions of the Telephone

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The telephone is a tool that can be a tremendous time saver as well as a time waster. The key is to make it your servant, not your master....you must take control, or suffer the wasteful consequences.

A good recommendation is to schedule time to deal effectively with phone calls, not take them on a chance basis. The first step is avoiding the knowledge of an incoming call. Choose any of these methods that suits your personality and your work situation.

Ask your secretary to hold all your calls, then ask for a review or message slips at a time of your choosing, once or twice per day, allowing yourself time to return those which are important, or to give instructions for your secretary to handle the response.

It is best if your secretary should be located far enough from you that you never hear the phone ring, or hear him/her the conversations.

3. The use of voicemail or an answering machine. The machine should be located where you cannot hear it and ringers should be silenced. You will do well to create a courteous voicemail message that simply explains that in order to work more effectively and serve each person with your attention undivided, you will return phone calls between 10:00 and 11:00 A.M. And 3:00 to 4:00 P.M. It is also wise to encourage callers to contact you via email. Of course, you check email no more often than twice daily, just before or after you handle your phone calls.

Customer service and order taking should be very responsive. Farm this phone task out to a company which that charges per minute and specializes in these areas, such as:

1. Direct Connect at 402-758-1200 follow the voice mail instructions to speak to Jim Buck

2. Live Ops at www.liveops.com works through home based reps for lower cost

3.West Teleservices www.west.com. This is a big company.

4. InPulse at www.inpulseresponse.com Offers all services necessary to put together a complete direct marketing campaign and handle responses.

You may want to establish a second phone number (I use a pre-paid cell phone) whose number you share with only certain special people whom you can trust to call only for business; those who will not call for personal reasons. This allows the few truly important calls to get to you . Most of my friends, associates and customers do not have the number for my cell phone. For those important calls that do get through at times other than your scheduled phone time, your only reasonable option is to be courteous, efficient and businesslike.

Avoid answering in a social manner like "Hi, John, how are you?" Get right to the point: "Hi, John, it's good to hear from you; what can I do for you?

If John starts socializing or getting off topic, you might say: "John, it's a really busy day and I have a phone call to make in three minutes. What can I do for you?"

If John is really, really off course, you might say: "John, it was nice to hear from you, but I am late for a meeting, I've really got to go."

To summarize:

1. Turn off the phone's ringer to and keep your distance, avoiding its distractions.

2. Give your secretary clear instructions and let her handle the phone work. Ask for a report at your predesignated time

3.Establish an "urgent" line. Give this number only to people you can trust to respect your need to work effectively.

4. When you must get on the phone, or if a call slips through your defenses, be businesslike, direct and to the point. Determine the purpose and scope of any call before you answer or return it, then take care of business and bring the matter to a swift conslusion.

5. Encourage all who may contact you to use email instead. You can then better prepare your responses and be more effective in the use of your communication time.

Article Source: http://allentrepreneurinfo.com

Sgt Carpenter has taught many Marines and soldiers how to get more done in less time. You too can learn to work less and accomplish more
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