ARTICLE:

Still can't get through the day without being interrupted by the persistent yowling of the phone? Suffering during lengthy calls that could have been handled in seconds by e-mail?

Do potential 5-minute return calls turn into 1-hour consulting nightmares?

This article will help you take back your time, take control of those increasingly chaotic gabfests, and convert the phone back to the advantageous and welcome business tool it was meant to be.

1. Make your time limit clear at the start of the call.

If you enter the conversation seemingly without limits, your listener is likely to take control of the situation, leaving you stuttering, vexed, and helpless. But, if you start the call by saying "I can talk for about 10 minutes, as I still have [13]
calls left to return," your phone buddy will be more likely to try to make every minute count, and consequently, stay focused.

2. If you have other important tasks on your "to-do" list, make them known.

A reasonable business person realizes the hectic schedule of an entrepreneur, and won't (intentionally) do anything to waste another's valuable time.

If you have important deadlines (self-imposed or otherwise) hanging over your head, don't be afraid to say "Billy Bob, I hate having to cut you off, but I really have to finish [preparing my newsletter]", midway through the call.

As long as you don't make it seem like your "to-do's" are more important than your caller, they'll understand, and will let you go.

3. Be selective with the calls that you DO accept.

Being successful is hard, because everybody and their mother wants to talk to you about your business, your life story, their pet armadillo, and their Aunt Gertrude's gumbo recipe.

People love you; all the time.

And they want to talk to you "live."

But don't fret; there IS a feasible way out of this time trap.

First of all, don't give your number out freely. Do you *really* have time to answer calls all day when you're working? If you're a very successful entrepreneur working random and unusual hours, that's pretty much impossible.

And do you REALLY think your visitors will actually call during the hours you've posted?

Bwahahahaha!!!

(Ahem! Sorry. :-/)

Instead of listing your phone number on each page of your site, you might only put it on your contact page. But if you get a lot of traffic, even this can easily lead to more calls than you can comfortably handle.

In that case, bury the number in your privacy statement, and make it clear that the number is only to be used for certain reasons -- and hope that people listen. You could also just refrain from making it public at all, and instead, only give it out to people who ask -- and even then, FOR GOOD REASON.

TIP: When you're registering a domain name, DON'T give out your "live person" phone number. Instead, list a voicemail number or computer line. Or heck, just fudge it. Domain registrars don't call you, so this shouldn't cause you problems.

It's surprising (and disturbing!) how many people will look up your phone number in your domain records if it can't be found anywhere else.

If you do buy into the hype that a phone number is absolutely necessary in a prominent location of your site, get a toll-free voicemail number, like the ones they offer at http://ureach.com.

4. Try to answer most questions on your website.

Got a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page? No? No wonder you get so many time-consuming calls!

Set up an FAQ page organized by category, and link to it from every page of your website ... *especially* at the top of your contact page.

You'll probably want to bold the notice asking visitors to check the FAQs before using your contact form, or calling your support line. (See how I've set up my own FAQ section at http://HarmonyMajor.com/info/contact.shtml.)

5. Pre-schedule and get the background of all potential calls by e-mail.

When people e-mail you asking if they can call "about something," let them know that you routinely schedule calls according to how long you estimate they'll take, and to be at a time convenient for both of your time zones and work schedules.

This is standard procedure for me, since I used to get so many calls.

I started scheduling calls because they were nothing but pitches for business opportunities or other forms of equally as annoying advertising, or for questions that were answered somewhere on one of my many websites.

If the latter, all I had to do was send the visitor a link to the page that had the answer to their question. I would nip the former in the bud by responding to requests for my number, with:

"I don't give out my phone number any more, and I'm not interested in any type of business opportunity."

Absolutely EVERY TIME I answered an anonymous number request with this, they either didn't respond, or said never mind.

Gotcha!

No more need for a call. ;-)

6. Eliminate small talk, or at least reduce it to a minimum.

Whatever you do, don't resort to small talk to fill a silence! You'll dig yourself into a hole deeper than the Grand Canyon.

And if your caller asks an irrelevant question, politely (and very quickly) answer it, then immediately steer the conversation back on track with an on-topic question (or point) of your own.

7. Stay focused, and schedule another call for other "not-so-relevant" topics.

If your caller asks a question that could turn into a longer conversation, is it relevant to the topic at hand? If not, remind them that you have XYZ to do (see point #1, "time shortage"), but that you'd be happy to schedule a call with them at a later date to address the other issue.

OR, if you're one that really doesn't find the phone to be an ally under any circumstances (like me), suggest that they send questions by e-mail, and let them know that you'll get to them faster than you'd be able to by phone.

8. DON'T let there be any lags or "uncomfortable silences" during the conversation.

This is the perfect opportunity for your listener to say "well, look, I wanted to ask YOU a question..." and for your call to turn into a lengthy, free (albeit somewhat relevant) consultation session.

If you can't think of a way to get things back on track without being rude, you could say:

  + "I do still have lots of work left to do for the day, so..."

  + "I still have several other calls to return, so..."

  + "I don't have a WHOLE lot of time to spend on this, so..."

This way, your listener will be waiting for YOU to ask the next question or make the next point, rather than interjecting with more time-consuming questions.

9. Don't be afraid to put your listener on hold (briefly).

If you're not a quick thinker, simply put your caller on hold to collect your thoughts if you can't remember to use one of the lines above. Then, quickly refer to this article (posted by your phone!) for tips on how to conserve your time, to politely end the conversation, or to get things back on track.

Just don't do this more than twice or so, or they'll know something's up ... or think you're too busy to talk to them.

10. If all else fails, conduct all business online.

Still want more free time? Work only a few hours a week? Hate the phone? All is not lost.

Instead of offering to accept calls at all, let people know that you conduct all business online, and instead offer to schedule a live chat consultation. Or, if you're really fast with e-mail, let them know that, and encourage them to send you their concerns in an e-mail. Just remember to get to them in a reasonable amount of time.

Whatever your reasons, it's best to let people know why you're declining a phone chat, so you don't look like you're purposely being shady or evasive.

   That's it...

Print this article now, and tape it, staple it, or hang it next to your phone to refer to in a crunch. You never know when you may need it during a business (OR personal! ;-)) call that's getting out of hand.

And remember ... don't be afraid to put your caller on hold. Just remember to press your "mute" or "hold" button while you collect your thoughts. :-)