most cases, three things happen next: 1) The gatekeeper chuckles and transfers me, 2) The entire company hears over the loud speaker, “Mrs. Friedman, you have The Nametag Guy holding on line 7,” and 3) The person I’ve called picks up the phone (already laughing) and says, “Hi Scott!”

Score!

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Do you have the balls to say something other than your name?

UNFORGETTABLE Waiting
When I was working at the Ritz Carlton, the phone light would start blinking rapidly after thirty seconds of h

In 2006, a study of 2,300 British consumers conducted by Harris Interactive revealed the general public's frustration with poor phone service. According to their research, 65% of consumers withdrew their business due to poor service experiences.

Wow.

Well, it’s 2007. How many customers are you going to lose from poor phone service this year?

Hopefully, zip. But let’s explore five keys to UNFORGETTABLE phone service just to make sure.

UNFORGETTABLE Openers
Customers will form an impression of you – and your company - within the first few seconds of their phone call. That’s why the first words out of your mouth are absolutely crucial.

What’s your present opening line? “Hello?” “Good morning?” Or is it some other boring, corporate handbook greeting that fades into the unmemorable multitude of every other phone call your customer will make that day?

FACT: phone greetings are opportunities to make the mundane memorable. To make the customer on the other line smile before she even asks you a question. You must project positivity, uniqueness and approachability within seconds. You can do better can “Hello?”

PERFECT EXAMPLE: for years, I’ve been answering my phone the same way: “HELLO, my name is Scott!” It’s nothing fancy, but nobody else uses it. And that’s the key. It’s fun, quick and usually gets a laugh 90% of the time. More importantly, those five words also happen to be the name of my company, the title of one of my books and the essence of my branding.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are your first few seconds UNFORGETTABLE?

UNFORGETTABLE Callers
OK, now let’s switch roles. You’re the caller. Making an important sales call to the VP of Marketing. And her assistant prompts you with the ever popular, “May I ask who’s calling?”

When you hear those beautiful five words, you should get excited. Why?

FACT: this is (yet another) two second opportunity to make the mundane memorable and project your uniqueness to someone new.

PERFECT EXAMPLE: “Yes. Tell Mrs. Freidman that it’s The Nametag Guy,” I usually say.

In most cases, three things happen next: 1) The gatekeeper chuckles and transfers me, 2) The entire company hears over the loud speaker, “Mrs. Friedman, you have The Nametag Guy holding on line 7,” and 3) The person I’ve called picks up the phone (already laughing) and says, “Hi Scott!”

Score!

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Do you have the balls to say something other than your name?

UNFORGETTABLE Waiting
When I was working at the Ritz Carlton, the phone light would start blinking rapidly after thirty seconds of ho

of you – and your company - within the first few seconds of their phone call. That’s why the first words out of your mouth are absolutely crucial.

What’s your present opening line? “Hello?” “Good morning?” Or is it some other boring, corporate handbook greeting that fades into the unmemorable multitude of every other phone call your customer will make that day?

FACT: phone greetings are opportunities to make the mundane memorable. To make the customer on the other line smile before she even asks you a question. You must project positivity, uniqueness and approachability within seconds. You can do better can “Hello?”

PERFECT EXAMPLE: for years, I’ve been answering my phone the same way: “HELLO, my name is Scott!” It’s nothing fancy, but nobody else uses it. And that’s the key. It’s fun, quick and usually gets a laugh 90% of the time. More importantly, those five words also happen to be the name of my company, the title of one of my books and the essence of my branding.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are your first few seconds UNFORGETTABLE?

UNFORGETTABLE Callers
OK, now let’s switch roles. You’re the caller. Making an important sales call to the VP of Marketing. And her assistant prompts you with the ever popular, “May I ask who’s calling?”

When you hear those beautiful five words, you should get excited. Why?

FACT: this is (yet another) two second opportunity to make the mundane memorable and project your uniqueness to someone new.

PERFECT EXAMPLE: “Yes. Tell Mrs. Freidman that it’s The Nametag Guy,” I usually say.

In most cases, three things happen next: 1) The gatekeeper chuckles and transfers me, 2) The entire company hears over the loud speaker, “Mrs. Friedman, you have The Nametag Guy holding on line 7,” and 3) The person I’ve called picks up the phone (already laughing) and says, “Hi Scott!”

Score!

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Do you have the balls to say something other than your name?

UNFORGETTABLE Waiting
When I was working at the Ritz Carlton, the phone light would start blinking rapidly after thirty seconds of h

must project positivity, uniqueness and approachability within seconds. You can do better can “Hello?”

PERFECT EXAMPLE: for years, I’ve been answering my phone the same way: “HELLO, my name is Scott!” It’s nothing fancy, but nobody else uses it. And that’s the key. It’s fun, quick and usually gets a laugh 90% of the time. More importantly, those five words also happen to be the name of my company, the title of one of my books and the essence of my branding.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are your first few seconds UNFORGETTABLE?

UNFORGETTABLE Callers
OK, now let’s switch roles. You’re the caller. Making an important sales call to the VP of Marketing. And her assistant prompts you with the ever popular, “May I ask who’s calling?”

When you hear those beautiful five words, you should get excited. Why?

FACT: this is (yet another) two second opportunity to make the mundane memorable and project your uniqueness to someone new.

PERFECT EXAMPLE: “Yes. Tell Mrs. Freidman that it’s The Nametag Guy,” I usually say.

In most cases, three things happen next: 1) The gatekeeper chuckles and transfers me, 2) The entire company hears over the loud speaker, “Mrs. Friedman, you have The Nametag Guy holding on line 7,” and 3) The person I’ve called picks up the phone (already laughing) and says, “Hi Scott!”

Score!

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Do you have the balls to say something other than your name?

UNFORGETTABLE Waiting
When I was working at the Ritz Carlton, the phone light would start blinking rapidly after thirty seconds of h

BLE?

UNFORGETTABLE Callers
OK, now let’s switch roles. You’re the caller. Making an important sales call to the VP of Marketing. And her assistant prompts you with the ever popular, “May I ask who’s calling?”

When you hear those beautiful five words, you should get excited. Why?

FACT: this is (yet another) two second opportunity to make the mundane memorable and project your uniqueness to someone new.

PERFECT EXAMPLE: “Yes. Tell Mrs. Freidman that it’s The Nametag Guy,” I usually say.

In most cases, three things happen next: 1) The gatekeeper chuckles and transfers me, 2) The entire company hears over the loud speaker, “Mrs. Friedman, you have The Nametag Guy holding on line 7,” and 3) The person I’ve called picks up the phone (already laughing) and says, “Hi Scott!”

Score!

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Do you have the balls to say something other than your name?

UNFORGETTABLE Waiting
When I was working at the Ritz Carlton, the phone light would start blinking rapidly after thirty seconds of h

most cases, three things happen next: 1) The gatekeeper chuckles and transfers me, 2) The entire company hears over the loud speaker, “Mrs. Friedman, you have The Nametag Guy holding on line 7,” and 3) The person I’ve called picks up the phone (already laughing) and says, “Hi Scott!”

Score!

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Do you have the balls to say something other than your name?

UNFORGETTABLE Waiting
When I was working at the Ritz Carlton, the phone light would start blinking rapidly after thirty seconds of hold time. If an employee was in the area and didn’t pick up the phone to assist the guest, he was written up.

Sure, it was harsh. But you better believe we picked up every call within thirty seconds! Dominoes would have been proud.

Look. Hold time is still a tough issue. I’m not going to get into the technical side of it, i.e., on-hold jazz music, advertisements, wait time and the like. However:

FACT: callers become more frustrated with every passing second.

Unless.

PERFECT EXAMPLE: my friend Dave is a pro at lessening hold time. Whenever he has another call or needs to put me on hold, he doesn’t say, “Can I put you on hold?” or “Would you mind holding for a minute?” Instead, Dave says, “Scott, do me a favor: count to ten and I’ll be right back!”

I still count every time. And Dave almost always comes back as promised.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What words could you use to make hold time more fun and engaging?

UNFORGETTABLE What?
In 2006, RainToday released a scintillating study called How Clients Buy: The Benchmark Report On Professional Services Marketing And Selling From The Client Perspective.

The study gathered data from nearly 200 decision makers nationwide who purchased $1.6 billion in professional services. They were asked about their biggest pet peeves when working with service providers.

And the winner went to (drum roll please)...

“They didn’t listen to me.”

FACT: when it comes to the phone, you must remember these three things:

1. Listening is not waiting to talk.
2. You have two ears and one mouth. Listen and speak proportionately.
3. A closed mouth gathers no foot.

PERFECT EXAMPLES: here’s a sample of several Phrases That Payses™ to use during your conversations. NOTE: I suggest writing them on sticky notes and posting them above your phone:

*Excuse my annoying typing; I just want to get all this stuff down! Similar to the above example. Polite, humorous way to subtlety demonstrate active listening while on the phone.

*I am at your service. Not just for