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The Elements of Style
.
Read it from cover to cover, and keep it by
your desk at all times.
Use both your spell check and a human set of
eyes to ensure that your document is free of
spelling mistakes. Check it carefully for gram-
mar problems, too.
63
Correspondence
Format your document intelligently—don’t
cram it with lots of competing typefaces, adopt
an inappropriate informal tone, follow your
own rules inconsistently, or jam too much text
onto the page.
Make sure your document incorporates the
right salutation for the intended reader.
Addressing a letter to people who are mar-
ried or who consider each other “significant
others”? Don’t tick off one or both of your in-
tended readers; use the proper titles for the
pair you’re addressing.
Make promises you can keep when it comes
to sending faxes, e-mail transmissions, and
overnight packages.
Call afterwards to make sure that what you
sent arrived in one piece.
Remember to send a cover letter when enclos-
ing “impersonal” materials.
Include all your relevant contact information
at the conclusion of an e-mail message.
Know the ins and outs of e-mail composition.
Keep personal e-mail transmissions out of the
workplace.
When posting to Internet groups, make sure
you observe the rules of good “Netiquette” by,
for instance, only sending messages that are
pertinent to the group and quoting excerpts
of previously posted material when the need
arises.
64
Business Etiquette
65
Sound Advice
Chapter 4
Sound Advice:
Making the Right
Phone Impression
65
“Nature has given men one tongue and two ears, that
we may hear twice as much as we speak.”
—Epictetus
omehow the fact that people have two ears doesn’t
always keep them from talking over, under, around,
and through the individuals they encounter during
business calls. Haven’t you had phone contact with some
organization or other that left you feeling as though you’d
been consciously ignored, insulted, or both?
If there is a potentially devastating “profit vacuum” that
this book can help you overcome quickly and easily, it’s the
common error of treating people on the phone as though
they weren’t entitled to a full hearing. There’s a rash of
S
66
Business Etiquette
phone-related etiquette problems in the business world to-
day, and who can say how many millions of dollars in lost
revenue from clients and customers it’s costing us?
All I know for sure is that when a company is rude to
me over the phone, it doesn’t take me long to start thinking
about moving my business elsewhere.
In this chapter, you’ll learn the best ways to establish
and maintain proper communication over the phone. By
following the tips outlined here, you’ll help your organiza-
tion
build
bridges during phone contacts, rather than tear
them down.
Tip #32
Tip #32
Tip #32
Tip #32
Tip #32
Ask befor
Ask befor
Ask befor
Ask befor
Ask before putting someone on speakerphone.
e putting someone on speakerphone.
e putting someone on speakerphone.
e putting someone on speakerphone.
e putting someone on speakerphone.
Looking for a great way to lose (or, at the very least,
intimidate) a big customer? Call your contact person’s di-
rect number while you and one or more associates are al-
ready “on speaker.” When the person picks up the ringing
phone and says “Hello,” he or she will be greeted by a cav-
ernous rush of responding static-sound that may or may not
include a distinguishable human voice at its center. Instead
of wondering about how on Earth you’ve managed to pull
off the latest customer service miracle, your contact will
wonder what terrible transgression he or she committed to
earn a spot in Telephonic Hell. You thought there was noth-
ing worse than making a client listen to the Muzak version
of “Something” while a call is transferred? Guess again.
There are very few devices that register as much dis-
pleasure from unsuspecting phone users as the speaker-
phone. If you’re using it, this technology represents a superb
and welcome convenience. If you’re subjected to it without
warning, however, it’s among the rudest of rude telephone
awakenings. Many listeners report that they feel as though
67
Sound Advice
the other person is talking to them from the bottom of a
well during speakerphone conversations. The instinct to
shout (or hang up in the hope of securing a better connec-
tion) can be quite strong.
Sound phone etiquette requires that the person who
wishes to use the speakerphone always pick up the handset
first when calling another party. After greeting the person
on the line and establishing rapport, the person with the
speakerphone should explain why he or she would like to
put the call on this device. For instance: “George Smith,
who is our firm’s director of communications, is in my of-
fice. I think he’d benefit from your feedback. If it’s all right
with you, I’d like to put this call on speakerphone.” Most
callers won’t mind—as long as the switch over is discussed
before it is initiated and the benefit to the caller of placing
the call on speakerphone is made clear.
What should you do when you find yourself in a tele-
phone conversation in which the other person does not ask
your permission to put you on the speakerphone? You have
two options: Tolerate the lapse in sound quality (and re-
mind yourself that your communications are not confiden-
tial), or explain that you cannot hear the person well and
hope that this will encourage the other party to use the
handset instead.
Tip #33
Tip #33
Tip #33
Tip #33
Tip #33
Obser
Obser
Obser
Obser
Observe pr
ve pr
ve pr
ve pr
ve proper confer
oper confer
oper confer
oper confer
oper conference call etiquette.
ence call etiquette.
ence call etiquette.
ence call etiquette.
ence call etiquette.
Yes, there is a certain etiquette to be observed when
conducting or taking part in a conference call. Any situa-
tion that involves other people, in fact, requires thoughtful
consideration of anybody else who might be involved. This
is true whether the interactions are in person or by some
electronic means.
68
Business Etiquette
Ar
Ar
Ar
Ar
Are you minding your teleconfer
e you minding your teleconfer
e you minding your teleconfer
e you minding your teleconfer
e you minding your teleconference
ence
ence
ence
ence
P’s and Q’s?
P’s and Q’s?
P’s and Q’s?
P’s and Q’s?
P’s and Q’s?
When was the last time you were part of a teleconference?
How would you rate its effectiveness? Many people I work
with have come to regard teleconferences as “productivity
vaccums”—and they have their reasons!
Here are three rules for conducting an effective and con-
siderate teleconference.
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