Something that I noticed over the years, after countless phone calls I’ve had with co-workers, managers, service providers and clients, is that people react best to your message if you talk to them as if they were physically in front of you. It’s not because your voice sounds different on the phone that you treat people in a mediocre fashion. It’s not because the other person is far away that you can afford to downsize him or her. I even find myself gesturing like I was giving a speech in front of deaf people! Does that mean that I should pay attention to my facial expressions? To some extent yes. But, the universal emotions of joy, sadness, anger and deception can definitely be wonderfully encoded in your voice while on the phone. That is the reason why the smile of a caring customer service agent can not be mistaken. And that makes the other person comfortable and very receptive to you.

Take a couple of minutes and think about these questions:

  • Do you check the caller’s name before you answer the phone?
  • Do you have special ring tone for each caller?
  • After you looked at the caller’s name, do you think more than 3 seconds before answering the call?
  • Do you make facial expressions right before you answer the call? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you probably are crafting a flawless answer for each caller. That could make the conversation sound less honest than a joyful telemarketer trying to sell you a cruise trip to Hawaii.