I’ve spent much of this past week prospecting for both myself and others and I’ve noted common characteristics among voicemail messages. Does your message match any of these … and what does this mean to your prospects and customers?
The Flight Attendant
This message has the same intonation and pacing as the safety procedure message we hear at the beginning of every flight. It is well rehearsed, contains no errors or “uhms” or “ahs”. It is absolutely ...
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by The Phone Lady
on Apr 28, 2013
- 1 Comment
Dig the well before you are thirsty. Chinese Proverb
This quote came across my desk on Thursday. I had just returned to my office from prospecting practice at The Hub (see below, News and Events, May 30), so it was very appropriate.
On the large white board we had created an imaginary time line for gaining new customers. (I’m convinced this is the most common mistake of entrepreneurs and salespeople alike – to focus on the customers ...
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cold calling,
customer service,
follow up calls,
Oxford Learning,
phone etiquette,
phone sales,
phone work,
Porter Airlines,
procrastination,
prospecting,
reluctant callers,
sales,
telephone etiquette,
telephone sales,
telephone work
“What’s the best time to call?” is one of the questions I get asked frequently and earlier this week I posted my answer to The Lunch Pack’s Burst of Learning group on LinkedIn. (It takes less than a minute to read and can be found here: http://lnkd.in/__b3NS)
While writing that post, I began to think about the frequency of other comments on phonework. Then during my time at Oxford Learning’s Niagara Falls conference http://www.oxfordlearning.com/ this past week, I ...
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During a brainstorming session this week I found myself saying “Phone calls are not the right approach for this project.” What! There was certainly a lot of laughter over The Phone Lady saying this.
Yes, I do strongly advocate for everyone to recognize and use the telephone to connect and build relationships. But there are indeed some situations when it’s not the best choice.
For example, my dearest friend has owned a voiceover business for the past ...
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by The Phone Lady
on Mar 24, 2013
- 1 Comment
This is an inspired blog … inspired by Brookes Diamond to be exact. I had the pleasure of running into him on Barrington Street on Tuesday – looking very dapper I might add. (Brookes and Fiona Diamond are amazing entrepreneurs, currently creating heritage entertainment for Canada and the international market. Find out more here: http://kanatashow.com/).
We were both on the move to other appointments but there was time for a hug and a brief conversation. He’d ...
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Phonework contains a unique combination of creativity and logic that has captivated me for 26 years.
The writer in me embraces the language challenges – finding the right words and presenting them in the right way to clearly communicate ideas and inspire conversation. Effective phonework is closely related to the art of storytelling.
This is balanced by statistics – simple, logical bits of information that are essential to the success of everyone using the telephone as a ...
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Alexander Graham Bell,
cold calling,
communication,
entrepreneurs,
phone communication,
phone sales,
phonework,
prospecting,
sales,
sales calls,
small business,
telephone communication,
telephone sales
In the past 6 weeks two entrepreneurs have approached me about making calls to potential clients on their behalf. And in both cases, they picked up the phone themselves and discovered their own “phone power”.
There’s freedom in this – a greater confidence in creating a strong bottom line, when one can pick up the phone and make things happen.
You have your own phone power; we all do. To discover it, like all skills and talents ...
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cold calling,
customer service,
entrepreneurs,
phone communication,
phone fear,
phone phobia,
phone sales,
practice,
prospecting,
selling,
service,
telephone communication,
telephone sales
When we pick up the phone to call a customer or a potential customer, our objective should be to inspire conversation.
With our customers, we want to learn more about them, find out how we can provide more or better service. After all, they are the ones that really know why they’ll stay with us for the long term.
And when we are prospecting, we want to confirm we have reached our target market. One thing I ...
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cold call training,
cold calling,
customer service,
effective communication,
etiquette,
phone communication,
phone etiquette,
phone fear,
phone phobia,
phone sales,
phone skills,
phonework,
prospecting,
telephone communication,
telephone etiquette,
telephone sales
This past week I immersed myself in phonework for three solid days – a rare occurrence that I welcomed with excitement. (I know, I know, many of you think that is completely bonkers!) But dialing the phone to accomplish a specific goal is the foundation of The Phone Lady. Without my enjoyment of – and curiosity about – this specific task, my workshops and talks would have flat-lined years ago.
My calls focused on Toronto (more ...
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Let’s talk about “practice”.
What are the things in your life that you practice consistently?
I have to admit that for many years I associated “practice” with childhood, as in “practice the piano” (something I rarely did and, as a result, have an astonishing lack of ability) or “basketball practice” (which I did attend faithfully – but never graduated to athlete).
About 14 years ago I attended my first yoga class and the word “practice” once again entered ...
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