Are Your Communication Skills Sabotaging Your Career? - Part 1

Tip! The most important step parents can take to improve communication with their children is model positive communication. Whether you are a married couple or single parent children will observe how you communicate with other adults.

Stop Talking Yes, you heard right. Stop talking and start listening. Most people are very poor listeners and even worse, they constantly interrupt the other person. Since everyone enjoys talking, it takes a real effort to break these very bad habits. But it is the only way you will ever become a successful communicator. A good rule of thumb is to let the other person do 75% of the talking and you only do 25%.

Tip! Some control over the flow of the communication should be applied.

The Power of Listening The reason why listening is so powerful is because it builds trust. The more you listen to another person, the more he or she trusts you and believes in you. Listening also builds the other person's self-esteem. When you listen carefully to another person, you are in effect telling them that what they have to say is so important that you aren't going to say one single thing until they're done. People will seek you out because they will feel very comfortable in your presence. The more they seek you out, the further ahead you will get and you will be amazed at how quickly your career starts to move forward.

Tip! Use simple language: Stay away from big words and unnecessary jargon. Big words can complicate the message or intimidate your listener causing communication to break down.

Ask for Clarification If you aren't 100% certain what the person is saying, never guess or assume. Ask for clarity because if you don't, you'll end up talking in circles. Then the other person will leave the conversation thinking "She doesn't get it." They never say "Gee, I'm a lousy communicator and I didn't explain it to her properly"; they always say "She doesn't get it." I know it's unfair but that's what happens...

Tip! Sidestep absolutes - right/wrong, bad/good. Statements like 'you always' or 'you never' are absolutes that hinder communication.

The most effective method I've ever learned for getting more information is to ask "How do you mean?" It's such a mild and polite question that it's impossible not to answer. The other person cannot stop himself or herself from answering more extensively. You can then follow up with other questions and have a very productive conversation.

Use Open Ended Questions Avoid questions that can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." Open-ended questions encourage the speaker to expand on his or her thoughts and comments. And one question will lead to another. By asking open-ended questions, you can draw out of the other person everything that he or she has to say on a particular subject. Then you have all the information you need to respond intelligently.

Pause Before Replying This is a key strategy that the very best verbal communicators use. A short pause of three to five seconds is all you need to do. When you pause, you accomplish four things. First, you avoid interrupting the person if they had more to say. Second, you show respect by giving careful consideration to what the person just said. Third, what the person said will sink into your mind and your response will be much more on point than if you just blurted it out. Last, but not least, you come across as a very thoughtful and intelligent person.

Tip! Punishment should fit the crime. A sure way to discourage and even shut down communication is for a child to feel fearful that in their communication something will surface that may result in harsh punishment.

I'll tell you right now that pausing is the hardest thing to learn. Even though it's only three to five seconds, it feels more like three to five minutes. At first, it's very awkward to do. Try a little experiment: start observing the executives and highly respected managers in your organization. You will see that they use this strategy all the time. It works for them and it will work for you too.

Tip! Knowing how to improve communication skills will come easier once you become aware of your own communication style.

Body Language When you are speaking to someone, maintain eye contact at all times. Don't scan the room, looking for other people. That's rude. Don't look down at the conference room table or the floor or past the person. That shows your lack of self-confidence. Never cross your arms or hang out in the chair as if it's your personal Barcalounger. Carry yourself in a relaxed yet professional way. If you are comfortable, you'll make the other person feel comfortable too.

Ask someone (who you think has a very professional style) to critique you on your body language just as soon as you are done reading this article. I'm not kidding. This is one of those silent career killers that nobody will tell you about because it's embarrassing to talk about.

Tip! Use self-disclosure openings as conversation starters. They ease communication apprehension, offer insight into you and appeal to the inherent helpful nature of other people.

Use These Strategies All the Time Don't just use these strategies for meetings or when you talk to managers or high level people. Use them all the time. By doing so, you will quickly break old bad habits and completely turn your verbal communication skills around in no time at all.

Communication Magic. The Amazing Formula for Communicating straight from the Heart in your relationships.

But the most important reason is that when you use these techniques, you are giving out a high level of respect and consideration to whoever you come in contact with. And everyone deserves to receive that, regardless of whether they are the CEO or the janitor. It's the right thing to do.

Dee Piziak is a manager for a Fortune 500 company and a university instructor. Her consulting firm, Acadia Communications, specializes in professional coaching, career development, and resume writing. Visit her website at http://www.acadiacommunications.com and sign up for her FREE monthly career coaching newsletter.

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Choosing an Answering Service: Part II

Tip! It's always in the best interest of small companies to hire an answering service provider to work for the company during the extended business workday, say from 8.00 AM to 8.

In my last article, we covered four basics: 1. take advantage of any free trial periods, 2. watch out for long contracts, 3. get references, and 4. don't be too concerned with high prices. For this article, we will assume that you have diligently followed the 4 steps in the first article and are ready for the next evolution - how to your answering service running smoothly. We will explore a few industry tips & tricks on how to keep your service professional and reliable.

First & foremost, don't ask too much of your call center. This is not meant as don't expect your answering service to do their job, but instead, keep their responsibilities short & sweet. As with any individual, the more tasks they are required to do, the more room arises for error. The main point here is "Shortness Equals Success".

What do I mean by that? First, keep your answer phrase short (i.e. how the operators pick up your line). Second, keep the information they gather from the caller at a minimum. Third, make sure your contact information is not a labyrinth of pager numbers, e-mail addresses, home phone numbers, and cell phone numbers (i.e. call Jim at home, if he is not there, e-mail him, if he does not respond page him and call his cell phone, etc.).

Try to make sure your employees keep their cell phones with them at all times as this seems the best way to keep steady contact with the call center.

Tip! Engaging the services of a call center can provide a number of benefits to businesses, which includes increased sales. However, businesses should consider a number of things first before they sign with a call center because doing so will help them get a reliable answering service that can help them grow their business.

Second, place regular test calls to your call center. Consider your answering service your employee. As with any employee, if left un-supervised, they will start to evolve into a less than model representative of your business. Make sure every 10 or so days you place a test call to your answering service to see how they are managing your calls.

Don't always call at the same time of day, instead try to stagger the times when you call as sometimes the afternoon staff is more efficient then the evening staff or vice versa. If you experience any problems, notify your call center liaison immediately and place another test call shortly thereafter to ensure the problem was rectified.

Tip! A telephone answering service is comprised of a group of individuals who are trained in customer service. Their job is to answer phone calls when someone else can't.

Third, make sure you have a healthy relationship with your call center. Treat them as you would treat your own employee. Be friendly and courteous and you will be treated the same. Imagine your own business and your own clients.

Are there clients that are never satisfied no matter what you do? Would you rather lose their business than spend 10% of your day managing their complaints? Rather then the "the more I yell, the more efficient they will be" premise, try to base your relationship on "the nicer I am, the nicer they will be" premise.

Tip! An answering service could also be used to accept orders for sales. Customers speak directly to a representative who processes the order.

Fourth, perfection is not immediate. Based on the conjecture that your answering service is your employee, they are probably not going to "get it right" the first time you forward your phones. As with any employee, they need time to grow and learn about your business and their duties relative to your needs as a business owner. Have patience, be helpful, keep it simple, and they should flourish.

Todd Cardin is the eastern regional sales manager for Specialty Answering Service (http://www.specialtyansweringservice.net). For more information on Specialty Answering Service, please e-mail us at info@specialtyansweringservice.net or log on to http://www.specialtyansweringservice.net. This article may be reproduced as long as it remains wholly intact.

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