Your Phone Image

Your Phone Image

We are "In Business". When we are "In Business", we need to think differently about the telephone line that is used for our Business.

Are we EASY to get in touch with? People will do business with people who are convenient to reach.

Have you called your voice-mail or answering machine lately to hear what other people hear when they call you? IfYOU were calling YOU, wouldYOU want to do business with YOU? :)

Do they know WHO they have reached? (It is important to identify yourself by name, not just phone number because not every prospective client or consultant will recognize your voice)

Is it professional? Do they know they have reached someone who is serious and yet excited about their business and about their call? Tone of voice is very important. It needs to be upbeat and to the point. If it is too long, people will hang up because they are impatient.

Do people ever get a busy signal when they call you?In this day and age, people are very impatient with busy signals and will call someone else or give up on trying to call you.If your business line is also used for your computer, consider an alternate line or voice-mail. I think there is even software that will tell you when you are on-line if someone is trying to call you.

Voice mail is much better than Call Waiting. I use my family line to call out on a lot and the only people who have that number are family members. I have Call Waiting on it in case it is an emergency, but I realize it is very rude to interrupt someone and take another call because the message it sends is that this call may be more important than you, so I will be right back.

DAR input here:As a director in the white pages, I have to have a business line. I had another line that takes the 2nd incoming callswhen I am on the phone. The only time I can have a busy signal would be if both phones are in use. Having the 2 business lines, I was not able to get the unlimited calling because I had to get it on both lines and it was not cost effective. I just recently cancelled the roll-over 2nd line (made it into a residential) and then I could get the unlimited just on the one line (arount $56 before all the add ons - much cheaper if you have a residential phone)....then for 60 cents a month have busy line rollover to the 2nd line. Love it! I also loooove caller ID. I am not one to not answer a call if I can - but I don't answer Private or Un-availables and it has taken so much stress of with all those telemarketer, etc. calls. The MK corporate office and some other big offices come in as unavailable - but if it is a real caller - they leave a message and if I am in ear shot- pick it up as soon as I hear them talking.

Do you have your line blocked against anyone calling in that has theircaller ID blocked?A lot of people have added that to their line. If you have their call blocked, they can not get in touch with you. Again, they will give up and find another person to do business with. I realize that telemarketing calls are a hassle, but if it is our line thatwe are using for business,we can not afford to put that block on because we are losing business when we do.

Do family members other than your husband answer your business line? I have called people and sleepy teenagers and small children have answered that I was concerned would not be able to pass on the message. Arewe missing some messages? If they are going to answer the business line, make sure that they are trained in how to take a message, that paper and pen are by every phone and that they have a system for getting the message to you. If that is not the case, it is best for them to let Voice-mail pick the business line up and get a family line for other family members to use.

Do people ever get a real person when they call? I know that Voice-com promotes putting just your Voice-mail number on your cards. We think it is better to put your business line on your cards and then just use call forwarding to your voice mail when you need to. If people ALWAYS get a machine or Voice-mail when they call you and never get to talk to you, that may be discouraging also. I have always answered my phone when I am home during my business hours. Of course, if it is family time, I let voice mail pick it up.

Running an "in home" business has so many advantages that in my book, it is the only way to go. We just need to make sure that we make the adjustments we need to maketo run it like a business. How we have these things set up tells everyone a lot about how seriously we take our businesses. We will be paid accordingly.

Here is an example of anideal message that people will be glad to receive if delivered in an upbeat tone. "Hello, you have reached ________household and __________, IndependentConsultant (or Director) with Mary Kay Cosmetics. Your call is very important to us. At the sound of the tone, please leave your full name, telephone number and a detailed message and we will get back to you as soon aswe can.Meanwhile, Have an awesome Day! You deserve it!"When youhave a separate family line, which is ideal, you can drop the ________household and it will sound even more like a business.

Just some food for thought. Thanks for listening. :)

Love, SueKirkpatrick

May Godshow you Miracles in March!