ePresence – Perception IS Reality (Part 2)

April 27th, 2009

In my last blog, I wrote about “online” presence and how it can impact your professional life.  ePresence – Part 2 is all about your “telephone” presence!  There are two considerations when talking about telephone presence: 

Etiquette and Perception

 

Etiquette

Telephone etiquette is nothing more than common courtesy, but let’s review what that means.  Standard procedure when calling someone who is not expecting your call is to ask them if this is a good time.  If you had predetermined a time for the call, this isn’t necessary.  Never put someone on speaker phone unless you have asked them if it’s okay.   Concentrate on one thing at a time – don’t multi-task when speaking on the phone.  Do NOT eat while on the phone – the sound of chewing is magnified!   When using your cell phone, be sure you are in a place with very little background noise – again, amplification can present a less-than-professional image. 

Perception

Now, for your telephone presence!  When I was in a technical support job, I rarely met my clients face to face.  All I knew of them was how they sounded over the phone and all they knew of me was the same.  When I met one of my clients face to face, he said that I sounded much older over the phone!  As I was trying to find a compliment in that statement, I asked what he meant.  He said that no matter what he threw at me, I didn’t seem to panic or freak out!  It seems that I came across that all  issues could be resolved!   Sort of a “been there/done that” persona.  In a technical support role, that was a good thing!  However, sounding “older” over the phone may not always work well for you.  There are ways you can present a positive, energetic perception on each and every phone call.  The things to be aware of in creating your telephone image are: 

Tone

Clarity /Volume 

Energy

Your tone of voice is very important!  You can change the meaning of a statement by changing the tone of your voice.  If your tone is sullen or dire, the person on the other end of the call is waiting to hear the bad news that you must be delivering!  The best example of a good tone of voice is when we listen to DJs on the radio particularly in the morning!  They sound like they are smiling and happy, even though they have been up since 3a.m.!  We can’t see their faces, so we have to depend on the tone of their voice to make us get up and face our day or traffic!  So, be very aware that the tone of your voice impacts the message you are trying to send.

Clarity of speech = don’t mumble!  Speak clearly and distinctly, or not at all!  People do not like to ask you to repeat phrases.  If you have noticed that you are asked frequently to repeat questions or statements, it might be because you are not speaking clearly.  Take your time and speak distinctly!  Also speak loud enough to be heard the first time!  You certainly don’t want to yell at the person on the other end of the call, but you want them to hear you.  Most of us stay pretty busy, so please do NOT ramble.  Get to the point of the call quickly.  If you are leaving a voice message, it’s most important that you do not ramble on and on.  If it’s not possible to get the information to the person in a one minute message, then ONLY leave a message asking them to call you back!  Nothing is more frustrating to a professional than trying to get your phone messages and coming across one in which the person chases rabbits all over the place, only to ask you to call them for clarification!!  When leaving a message, leave your name, number and a brief statement about the reason for the call.  You don’t need to leave a date and time since most message systems record that information automatically.  However, if you have a deadline for getting or giving information to this person, you should leave the date and time of the deadline.

If you pay attention to the first two items (tone and clarity/volume), then energy should happen easily!   We expect good news to come to us with excitement and bad news to be delivered with reserve.  So, when speaking over the phone, please sound like you are glad to be alive and speaking with this person.  When our tone and energy do not match our message, we send confusing messages.  If I’m delievering bad news to a person (which I actually do not recommend that you do over the phone), and I have a level of energy and excitement in my voice, they might think that I’m glad to be telling them the bad news.  And if I’m delivering great news and have a sour, unenthusiastic tone and energy in my voice, they might not believe what I’m telling them.  Or they may think it’s a “good news/bad news” situation and they are waiting to hear the bad news as well! 

So, make your tone and energy match your message and speak clearly and with enthusiasm!  Your telephone presence will come across as professional every time!

Stay tuned!  More professional tips to come!

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ePresence – Perception IS Reality! (Part 1)

April 13th, 2009

We live in a technological world!  If you are not aware of that, climb out from under your rock and dust yourself off!  This is such a large part of who we are today, that I can’t possibly cover it all  in a single blog.  Today I want to focus on the online “networks” that we have all heard of, joined, posted and blogged on.  Recently, I was reading an article directed towards unemployed professionals actively seeking employment.  If ever there is a time to consider your ePresence, it’s when you are conducting a job search!  The article was suggesting ways to “take 10 years” off of your interview. (interviews don’t actually last 10 years, they just seem like it!)  Almost all of the suggestions were related to technology!  The words Facebook, Twitter, texting, iPod, LinkedIn, and a whole series of words and phrases that suggested that if you were not familiar with these, you were “outdated” and in a big way! 

Consider if you were an employer and wanted to know as much as you could about a candidate before or after meeting them for the first time.  Not too long ago, unless you were into “stalking”, there were very few ways to gather additional information unless you knew someone that knew the candidate.  Now, in our technological world,  employers can find the candidate on Facebook; they can look on LinkedIn; they can track on Twitter; they can peruse on Plaxo Pulse; they can banter on BrightFuse!  Yes, and most importantly – - – - they DO!

So, what perception do you want to present online?  These networks can work for you or against you!  You need to decide on the image you want to create,  and let the online networks work for you!  Here’s an example of how a network could work for you:   There was a recruiter interviewing two candidates for a position within their recruiting firm.  The candidates were identical in qualifications and both had interviewed well.  The hiring recruiter went to Facebook to compare the two.  One had less than 50 “friends” and the other candidate had hundreds!  Because it’s advantageous for a recruiter to be well connected, the decision was made to go with the candidate that had lots of connections!  Note:  Lots of “friends” on Facebook would not always be a selling point to an employer, but in this case it was!  I’m not suggesting that you dig up all of your 8th grade classmates and invite them to connect to you for the sake of showing people how popular you are!

Also, consider that the pictures you post and the comments you make are visible to employers and recruiters!  It’s not wise to post a comment that you are “bored to tears” during working hours!  Your employer can see this and could use it against you!  First, that you were on Facebook during working hours; and secondly, if the company doesn’t have enough to keep you busy, do they need to keep you at all?

Even though some of us think that some of the online networks are dubbed as social, while others are more serious or professional, we cannot determine which site employers are logging on to for information gathering!  Poster/Blogger/Friend/Connection – beware!!!  Perception IS reality! 

Stay tuned for more ePresence tips coming your way!

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Professional – what does that mean?

February 19th, 2009

We hear the word “professional” used frequently, but do we really understand the term?  There are professional athletes,  professional service people (hairdressers, plumbers, electricians, massage therapists, etc.), professional medical personnel, and professional consultants.  There are many more categories, but what does it mean to  refer to someone as a “professional?”

The definition of “professional” simply states that a professional receives compensation/gain for their ability or service.  But, is that all we think of when we hear or use the term?   We certainly have all experienced paying a “professional” for a product or service and not being satisfied with the quality of said product or service.  So, was the product/service or individual truly ”professional?”  Would any of us hire or solicit services from a person or company that said they were NOT professional?  Certainly not!   Through our experiences, we have developed an opinion of what ”professional” really means to us and because our experiences are all different, thus is our concept of professionalism!

So, how does the term “professional” relate to you?  If you are employed, does that make you “professional?”  You are receiving compensation for your abilities, right?  And that surely fits the definition.  But, in the work place, professional may have more of a robust connotation.  I show up on time every day; I finish my work in a timely manner; I’m a team player.  Does that make me a professional or a good employee?

I suggest that in the work place, we think of the term professional, as meaning top-knotch!   The best of the best!  (A side note:  Being the “best of the worst” or the “worst of the best”, is nothing to brag about in your career!)   To be the best CPA, the best plumber, the best banker, encompasses all of the things listed above and much more.  Make sure that when someone thinks of you and the service you offer, they can’t think of ANYONE who can do it better!

When deciding on a tag line for Corporate Training On Call, I used the word “professional” and not because I wanted people to realize that I get paid for conducting training classes and seminars, but because I wanted them to think that NO ONE can train people better than I can!

So, start doing things every day to make people realize that you ARE the best of the best; that your company or your clients are smart to have chosen you for the task!  Go out and become the premier “professional” in your field!

Stay tuned – there’s more to come on how we can do that!

Signing off for now!

Darlene Randolph, Professional Presence Consultant

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Training – A Necessary Evil?

February 10th, 2009

Clients expect it!
Employees need it!

In order for your clients to use your product and services and benefit from them, they must be trained. For your employees to function at their absolute best and represent your company well, they must be trained.

Training departments typically evolve within a company – they are seldom planned. Usually, we have someone who performs well in their area of expertise and we recruit them to become the trainer.

Companies rarely know if they need one trainer or a team of trainers. Is one enough?  Are three too many? During crunch times, we end up pulling employees away from their usual job function and sticking them in a classroom, on a webinar, or worse, sending them to a client site to conduct training without any regard for their ability or desire to train others.  The result:  poorly trained clients and employees; increased support calls;  less than stellar client/employee retention statistics!  Trained clients/employees are happy clients/employees!

In all economic conditions, companies try to maintain low overhead and high revenue resulting in profits. A major part of that overhead is the salaries and benefits of employees.

So, why not outsource training??  If you could reduce the cost of salaries and benefits without compromising the integrity of your company, wouldn’t you want to?   Companies are no longer self-contained!  They outsource many of the tasks and duties that in years past would have been an integral part of the organization!  Payroll, one of the most confidential and detailed processes in an organization, has been outsourced for years!   Companies have someone who is responsible for monitoring the process, but all data and details are stored off site and the process is off site as well.  Training is one of those departments that is easily outsourced.  Afterall, we send our employees away for training all the time.  Why not outsource training and pay only when we need it?

This is a concept whose time has come!  By reducing or maintaining headcount (FTEs), you can improve your bottom line immediately!   Not only does the salary expense go straight to the bottom line, but the benefits (an additional 30-36% of salary) also is saved!

A viable possibility?  I think so!  It’s just my opinion, but it could be yours too!

Stay tuned – more to come on the benefits of quality training!

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