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Technique #64
Salute the Spouse
Whenever you are calling someone’s home, always identify
and greet the person who answers. Whenever you call
someone’s office more than once or twice, make friends
with the secretary. Anybody who is close enough to answer
the phone is close enough to sway the VIP’s opinion of you.
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hiring time, firing time, promoting time, or buying time, many
spouses have a say. When it comes to whose calls get through,
whose proposals get put on the top of the boss’s desk, who gets
luncheon appointments made, secretaries’ opinions count!
Only foolish callers don’t realize all spouses and secretaries
have names. All spouses and secretaries have lives. All spouses and
secretaries have feelings. All spouses and secretaries have influence.
Deal accordingly.
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When Alexander Graham Bell invented the phone, he and his
comrades had no use for such trite phrases as “Hi, how ya doin’?”
Bell and his boys never just started spouting their ideas into their
listener’s ears. The first words out of their mouths in those times
were “Can you talk?” Bell and his buddies were, of course, refer-
ring to technical capabilities.
Little did they know, more than a hundred years later, big
winners would use a form of that same greeting. Today, of course,
“Can you talk?” means “Is it convenient to talk?” Before launch-
ing into conversation, they always ask “Is this a good time to chat?”
“Did I catch you at a good time?” “Do you have a minute to dis-
cuss the widget account?”
All folks have a Big Ben in their brain that determines how
receptive they are going to be to you and your ideas. When you
mess with their internal cuckoo clock, they won’t listen to you. No
matter how interesting your information, or how pleasant your
call, bad timing means bad results for you.
It’s not your fault. Whenever you call someone at home, you
never know whether she was sleeping or whether there’s a fire rag-
ing in the kitchen stove. Whenever you call someone at work, you
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How to Get What You
Want—by Timing!
✰
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Copyright 2003 by Leil Lowndes. Click Here for Terms of Use.
never know whether he’s got two hours to get a report in or
whether the big boss is not-so-patiently sitting on his desk.
Whenever you place a call, always—not occasionally, not fre-
quently—always ask about your timing. Make it a habit. Make it
a rule. Make it a self-punishable crime if the first words out of your
mouth don’t concern the convenience of your timing:
“Hi, Joe, is this a good time to talk?”
“Hello, Susan. Have you got a minute?”
“Hi, Carl, did I catch you good or did I catch you bad?”
“Sam, do you have a second for me to tell you about what
happened at the game last Saturday?”
There are many ways to say it, but it all boils down to “Is this
a good time to talk?”
My friend Barry, a broadcaster, accomplishes more in a day
than most people do in a week. He came up with a clever con-
versational device that ensures he’ll never shatter anyone’s emo-
tional sundial. He calls it “What Color Is Your Time?” Barry
introduces the device by telling people he’s calling he has great
respect for their time. He then asks permission to start his future
conversations with a question that assures he’ll never disturb them
at an inopportune moment. Barry says he’s going to ask what color
their time is. They should honestly answer, “red,” “yellow,” or
“green.”
Red means “I’m really rushed.”
Yellow means “I’m busy but what’s on your mind? If it’s quick,
we can deal with it.”
Green means “Sure, I’ve got time. Let’s talk.”
Red, like the stoplight at the corner, means stop. Yellow means
hurry up, time is short or stop and wait for the next green light.
Green means go.
Busy people pick up quickly on his artful device and enjoy the
game. Most especially, they enjoy Barry’s sensitivity and respect
for their time. In fact, he says, most of his callers play the same
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sensitive game when they call him. “Hi Barry, what color is your
time? Are you green?”
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