“Good afternoon, who am I speaking to? ” Do you ever answer the phone in this way? Certainly not, because as a sales professional or manager you know the importance of the way you come across on the phone.

At call there is no possibility to convey body language, your conversation partner bases his or her judgment on a purely linguistic basis. Are you able to make an impression over the phone?

The telephone makes or breaks your chances

Nowadays, most communication within companies takes place via email. However, telephone contact remains very important. Certain nuances and details that are difficult to identify via email, or 'urgent issues' that take too long via email, are often picked up by telephone. In addition, the telephone is a 'more compelling' means of communication, which makes it very suitable for sales (inbound and outbound). Whether it concerns cold calling or existing customer contact, the way you conduct a telephone conversation makes or breaks your chances in the future.

Many things are of great importance when contacting us by telephone. Firstly the connection itself, and the background noise. A poor connection or a lot of noise in the background irritates your conversation partner. Even if you can't do anything about it, it will help determine his impression of you. This also applies to the way you talk. Exude calmness, don't talk quickly, and be very clear in what you have to say. If agreements need to be made, make sure that you regularly give a short summary and repeat answers, so that your conversation partner gets the impression that you are listening carefully and have fully understood his or her answers.

All these facets can be learned! Whether it's your tone of voice, or the way you introduce yourself (first welcome, then say your company name and then your own name), it's a matter of practice and discipline. Together, these components determine perhaps 50% of the impression you leave behind. However, a sincere quality that cannot be learned is decisive...enthusiasm!

Enthusiasm is the key!

'Gosh, I'm always happy when I get you on the phone, you're always so cheerful.' We regularly hear this from customers and relations. There is nothing more powerful! There is no way you can exceed the goodwill you achieve with genuine enthusiasm. Are you always at your best on the phone? You know better than anyone that a phone call can sometimes be quite unwanted. In those cases it can be difficult to continue to appear sincere and friendly. However, this is SO important that we would advise you not to answer the phone for a while. Call back later, it will benefit both you and your conversation partner. An enthusiastic response on the telephone can immediately alleviate all the negativity of, for example, a bad news conversation. It can also seriously brighten the day of the person on the other end of the line. Take this opportunity and always show your conversation partner that you have a positive attitude towards the relationship.

Telephone and e-mail reinforce each other

Finally, we want to protect you from a pitfall. Telephone contact is excellent for making decisive decisions. What can be annoying, however, is that matters discussed on the telephone are rarely written in black and white. This is where email comes into play. E-mail and telephone communication reinforce each other enormously. Take the time to summarize the conclusions from the telephone conversation in a 'wrap-up' email immediately after completion of the conversation. This way, ambiguities will never arise again, which are often disastrous for the progress of a project.

Do you want to prepare yourself optimally for telephone communication, so that you only have to bring your own enthusiasm to achieve success? Then the training 'telephone skills' by Kenneth Smit is definitely something for you! Through theory, practice and role plays you will learn to deal with many types of challenges during telephone contact.