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colleagues business phone so shed get it as soon as she came in at nine.
Hello, the message
How to Impress Everyone with Your Outgoing Voicemail Message
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chirped. This is Felicia. Im either away from my desk or on the other
line right now, but leave your message at the tone. Beep. Felicia, of
course youre away from your deskits 4 a.m. on Suday morning! On the
other line? At this hour? I hope not!
You never know how your message is going to affect somone. Just
keep yours neutral, friendly, constantly changing, short, and understated.
No boasts, no bells, no whistles.
Technique #66
Constantly Changing Outgoing Message
If you want to be perceived as conscientious and reliable, leave a
short, professional, and friendly greeting as your outgoing message. No
music. No jokes. No inspirational messages. No boasts, bells, or whistles.
And heres the secret: change it every day. Your message doesnt have to
be flawless. A little cough or stammer gives a lovely unpretentious
reality to your message.
How to Get Them to Call You Back
Producers of big Broadway musicals can be brutal during audtions.
An anxious wanna-be star, after rehearsing his audition song for weeks,
steps onstage. He opens his mouth to sing. After a few notes, the heartless
producer shouts, Thank you. NEEEXXXT! Dreams of stardom dashed in
ten seconds!
Businesspeoples professional dreams can also be dashed in the first
ten seconds of their audition. Their audition is the message they leave on
someone elses answering machine.
Competent businesspeople wouldnt dream of sending a messy
handwritten business letter to a VIP on cheap yellow-stained paper and
expect a response. They know the recipient would toss it in the trash.
Nevertheless, some of these same folks will leave a lacluster message on
a VIPs voice mail and expect a callback. No one ever told them that big
winners scrutinize messages on their voice mail with the same
consideration of a big Broadway producer. If you sound good, youve got a
chance. If you dont, you are fasforwarded out of their life.
Salespeople, suitors, candidates, and competitors who leave crisp,
intelligent, upbeat messages on voice mail get called back. Losers with
lackluster tones and uncrafted messages never hear from Mr. or Ms.
Make It Happen. Make sure your message
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How to Get Them to Call You Back 253
reflects three Cs: Confidence, Clarity, and Credibility. In addition,
make it entice, entertain, or interest the listener. A flat This is Joe, call
me back doesnt score with big winners.
Stay Tuned For . . .
Radio DJs use tricks to keep their listeners tuned in. Top salepeople
have similar little tricks to entice prospects to call them back. Heres one
called a cliff-hanger. To make sure listeners wont switch stations during
the radio commercial, the broadcaster throws out a mini-mystery: And
right after the commercial well be back with the winning ticket . . . It
could be yours . . . Stay tuned! Whenever you leave a voice mail message
for anyone, try to include a cliff-hanger: Hi, Harry, this is Andrew. I have
the answer to that question you asked me last week. Or Hi Diane, this is
Betsy. I have some big news about that project we were dicussing. Now
Harry and Diane have a reason to call Andrew and Betsy back.
Pitch personality into your message, too. Picture the people listening
to it. Say something to pique their curiosity or make them smile. The
message you leave is your ten-second audition. Make it good.
Technique #67
Your Ten-Second Audition
While dialing, clear your throat. If an answering machine picks up,
pretend the beep is a big Broadway producer saying Nexxxt. Now youre
on. This is Your Ten-Second Audition to prove you are worthy of a quick
callback.
Incidentally, if someones voice mail unexpectedly comes on and you
are unprepared, quickly hang up (before the beep so they dont get a hang-
up message.) Take a moment to craft your entetaining, enticing, or
interesting message. Rehearse it once with confidence, clarity, and
charisma. Then redial to leave your great hot message.
A funny thing happens. If your party answers this time, youll be
disappointed.
How to Make the Gatekeeper Think Youre Buddy-Buddy with the VIP
The inspiration for this next telephone technique comes from pesonal
experiences with mid-Manhattan toilets (a less-than-refined origin, to be
sure). New York City, in spite of all its reputed sophitication, lags some
of the shabbiest European cities in one respect. Manhattan has few public
toilets. And none of those Europeastyle, charming, and at times very
much appreciated, freestanding structures on street corners.
In the days when I made sales calls around the busy city of New York,
this presented a problem. Several times a day. I often found myself at the
mercy of coffee-shop cashiers who jealously guarded their restroom
facilities. Some shops even put menacingly scribbled signs in the
window, Bathrooms are for customers only.
I often found that if I played it straightgoing up to the cashier and
asking if I could use the amenitiesId get shot down. So I used the
following technique. Without casting a glance at the cashier, Id strut
confidently into the coffee shop. Id march right past the bathroom
bouncer and keep my gaze fixed on one of the booths. Shed assume I was
coming for lunch or had simply
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returned to collect my forgotten gloves. Once past the gatekeeper of
the loo, Id wait for her to be busy ringing up the next check. Then, like
greased lightning, Id sprint into the john.
I dubbed this deception The Ho-Hum Caper after my feigned attitude
of Ho hum, business as usual. I come here every day with nothing on my
mind but lunch.
Let us now translate that sneaky subterfuge into a seldofail phone
technique. You can use the maneuver to sneak around secretaries and
dodge their heartless screening. Instead of plaing it straight and asking
for your party by name, just say Is he in? or Is she in? Using the pronoun
is verbally sprinting past the secretary with a business as usual, Ho hum, I
call every day attitude.
Technique #68
The Ho-Hum Caper
Instead of using your partys name, casually let the pronoun he or she
roll off your tongue. Forget Uh, may I speak to Ms. Bigshot please? Just
announce, Hi, Bob Smith here, is she in? Tossing the familiar she off
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