Great on the Job-C1 Master the Hello and Good-bye

Part I-Chapter One

Life is a series of hello and good byes.

How many times have you picked up the phone and the person on the other end launches into a diatribe about something that you’re either (a) not interested in, (b) not prepared to discuss, or (c) don’t have time to listen to? And you politely (or impolitely) think to yourself, How do I get off the damn phone?

The easiest thing to do is to ask someone at the outset of every conversation-on the phone or in person—if he or she has a moment to speak. The subtext is that you respect the person with whom you’re speaking and you understand that his or her time is valuable. By clearly stating who you are (introduction), why you are calling (purpose of the call), and then inquiring whether he or she has the time or inclination to speak with you at that moment (key questions), you establish yourself as respectful and professional.

Are you going to achieve your intended goal is the person on the other end of the line is only half listening? Will you actually get the follow-up meeting if your counterparty has only two minutes for you and you don’t think to ask if there’s a better time to talk?

Introduction:

Hi, Pat, this is …from …I was referred to you by…

Hello, this is …calling from the retail division at Nike

Hello, my name is … and I’m a student at the University of Michigan

Hi, Brent, this is … from …; Professor Thomas introduced us this spring on campus.

Purpose of your call:

I’m calling to follow up on the email I sent you regarding next month’s charity auction.

I’d like to give you an update on the spring fundraising campaign.

May I fill you in on the details of last night’s committee meeting?

I’d like to ask for your help drafting a job description for the executive assistant position

The key questions:

Do you have a few minutes?

Do you have a moment to speak?

“Hi Pat, this is Jodi Glickman calling from Great on the Job. I was referred to you by Karin Ash at the Johnson School.”

“Oh, hello, Jodi. Hare are you?”

“I’m great, thanks. I was wondering if you had a few minutes to follow up on the e-mail I sent you last week regarding Great on the Job and to talk about whether this might be of interest to your MBA students.”

“Jodi, thanks so much for calling. Actually I’m headed into a meeting right now, but let me have Katherine Leeds follow up with you. She handles student programming.”

“Okay, thanks so much, Pat. I will look forward to hearing from Katherine.”

I hung up the phone slightly dejected-It was a quick call I didn’t get a chance to pitch my product. Nonetheless, I had been professional ( I identified myself and stated the purpose of my call) and respectful of Pat’s time.  Pat no doubt appreciate the “easy out”, given that she was headed into another meeting. The very next day Katherine Leeds gave me a call to follow up, and there began the beginning of my relationship with the business school, which I am happy to report is today a client. Given that Pat was about to go into a meeting, she would have had to cut the conversation off early. Perhaps she would have been annoyed that I’d interrupted her before an important meeting. She would likely have been distracted thinking about the meeting. Perhaps she would have half listeed with one ear and politely said thanks.

When an assistant answer the phone, you should add two steps to your “hello”

Greeting by name

Ask how they are doing

“How’s everything going?”

“did you have a nice weekend?”

Happy new year! Is the week getting crazy for you already?”

Purpose of call& Key questions

I’m calling to speak with Todd about the book proposal. Is he available by chance?

I was hoping to speak with Nancy about tomorrow’s presentation. Is she in?

Is lisa planning to be in the office this afternoon? I’d like to speak with her about the Voios account.

I’m looking for Jordan. I need to reach him urgently before we go to press tonight.

(>>>>>>>>>>>>>>)

The two-step Good-Bye

Thank you

Forward momentum

Jane, it was great speaking with you this morning. Thank you for raising some interesting issues I hadn’t considered before. You’ve inspired me to revisit the issue.

Brian, thanks again for taking the time this afternoon to connect

Thanks for sharing your time generously. I know how busy you are.

I will look forward to staying in touch and returning the favor one day.

I’m sorry we won’t be working together, but I’d love to stay in touch and grab coffee at some point.

I will let you know the outcome of the meeting and keep you posted on how things shake out.

If you need any additional information from my team, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Is there anyone else you think I should speak to about lighting and set design?

Keep the door open at the end of your conversations will allow you to create the “currency” of forward momentum, building goodwill you can use in the future for a whole host of things-asking for help or feedback, networking internally, or building external relationships to leverage throughout your career.