When the phone rings, does it fill you with excitement?

Or dread?

With so many activities and tasks demanding our attention during the day, a phone call can easily become just one more distraction taking us away from getting our “to do list” done.  It’s even harder when our role involves taking calls directly from clients or a lot of coworkers – phone calls can become a constant annoyance.  Unfortunately, that annoyance comes through when we answer the phone with a hurried and clipped, “Hello.  Can I help you?”.

This can quickly turn off the caller, who may be a valued prospect, client, or colleague.  They don’t know about all of the other tasks that you are trying to accomplish.  All they hear is the rushed and less than cordial tone of your voice.

How can you avoid this?

The simplest way to do this is to take a deep breath before you pick up the phone or press the “talk” button.  Let the phone ring one more time as you exhale and smile.  Then, and only then, pick up the phone.   You’ll find that you will speak more slowly and that your tone of voice will be much more relaxed.  This in turn will create a much warmer response in your caller.

Recall that last time you called someone and they answered with a rushed “hello”.  Then think of the last time you called someone and when they answered you could hear the smile in their voice.  In the minds of the people that call you, which do you want to be ?