telephone-voice411

What if communication was as easy as reading the sky?

Did anyone ever tell you you had a telephone voice? Apparently all the women in my family have one. I really wonder what that is...do we put on our most polite voices on the phone? I believe our natural voice actually comes quickly after the initial enquiry or response as we realize that we know the person on the other end. I know that men have a telephone voice, too.

Some people are not comfortable on the phone and it comes across. My early training in SuperHost (internationally recognized certification in customer service) taught us that callers can hear our smiles :) I never forgot that. One technique is to place a small mirror at the telephone and look into it and smile when answering. Soon it becomes a good habit.

Even placing the receiver at the left or right ear has an impact on how the mind interprets the message.

First of all, I want to address that uneasy feeling you get when you're minding your own business and answer the phone, but it's a sales call. Worse than that: it's a sales call from an interactive robot that sounds just like a human! Now, if you've reached a certain point in your life and have not taken back the power that you may have once given away, regarding the telephone, take heart! Now, let's say you have not answered when you hear the distinctive "double ring" that auto dialers make. But really that doesn't do anything at all, you just get recycled on the phone list. What you really want is to get off the call list. I'm not on the National "Do not call list" for the simple reason that sometimes I am up for something new and I'd rather hear a few seconds of it and then choose for myself whether I want to stay on the list, and, maybe hear it later. So, what you do is: when you hear the delay after you pick up the phone to say "hello", wait for the sales person to be connected to a live call. Then listen for a few seconds to find out what it is, and then speak those oh-so-legal words: Please take me off your call list. They have to do it and not only that they must stop pitching immediately. There; you haven't been rude to anyone or created any bad feelings on your part or theirs. It's a business call, after all. Any you've just taken back your power regarding your time, emotions, money...and you're heart is still beating the same way and everything's fine. You just continue on with your activities without missing a beat.

The weird thing is when you get into a conversation with a robot: at first it's fascinating and I just loved it and couldn't wait for them to call back, it was so fun. But that was because I was bored and had five minutes. After you've done it once or twice it really does depend on the product if you want to stay on the call list. Companies are pretty good about not burning their precious call list, so you don't have to worry about it too much. The fact is you don't know these people, and the high pressure tactics are annoying unless the company is sufficiently branded and you know someone that has had successful dealings with that company. It really is different, you know, when you yourself go looking for information and are ready to buy. But the same "buyer beware" I learned in high school law class remains in place whether you initiated it or not. Anyway, no one likes being beaten into submission...but these tactics are taught in some call centres for cold calling. Even if the sales person picked it up elsewhere, somewhere along the line, policies may not be sufficient to deprogram habitually hammering a prospect. Why take the fun out of buying? Because broadcast has worked in the past. It's all about numbers...or is it?

It's pretty much automatic that you will not trust someone bursting your bubble. And if it is a product that you've been thinking about, and if you do buy, it's in spite of the sales experience, not because of it. I guess that's why pressure sales continue, they luck into closing the sale and then the legend continues.

Which is why I like attraction marketing in the first place. It's like this: I'm a woman and we like to gather information before we make a purchase. And we all know that it's in the delivery, not necessarily the product. In North America we've had an upbringing that generally is very generous. Even in nature you can see generousity everywhere, in its ever cycling pattern. So when I found a website I liked on health I was in there three or four times looking around for six or seven hours. Six or seven hours!! It was like Ellen was becoming my new best friend. She knew everything about detox and health from a standpoint similar to mine. I was so ready to purchase by the time I did buy. And I hadn't actually talked to her yet. After I made a large purchase we were in a back-and-forth email, and each interaction was based on permission. Really, I thought it was just a few times, but recently I was organizing my email and I did a search on her name and boom! There were quite a few interactions! It just seemed natural and easy at the time. And when I finally trailed off and went about my days working, learning, and life, she also left me to my own to try the products and let her know how they were working out. I am loyal to Ellen now, and she's still attracting me, I am singing her praises and intending on repeat business with her.

And that, my dears, is an example of a pleasant buying experience. No aggravation, no squirming and trying to get off the phone, no guilt that you've just spoken harshly to someone (to someone's son or daughter). People are a powerful buying collective, to be sure, and we know what we like. Taking it back in our hands is life on top of the world!