Smiling on the phone can be a great way to elevate your tone and attitude, Elizabeth! It's also great to hear that you're listening to the subtle nuances with your caller to match them. Keep up the good work.
Excellent awareness, Joshua. I get the sense that you're comfortable with your telephone personality and your ability to connect with others over the phone. You mention that an area of improvement would be your tendency to talk fast, what might you do to help you slow down in the future?
Great observations, Devin. It sounds like this module gave you an awareness on a couple of things that you'd like to change in your phone calls moving forward. Having a consistent greeting that can be used with students and vendors can be a helpful way to establish your professional presence on the phone as well as begin to build rapport.
That's great, Sharon! I imagine it's a personality that encourages positive response from your students and helps put them at ease. What are some of you tips for keeping your phone personality friendly if you're not having a good day?
So true. If you can laugh, they feel good and comfortable and are building rapport which leads to trust and a sale.
Establish my first impression with a smile, warm greeting and welcoming attitude. Ask how their day is going then build rapport by establishing my role and desire to answer their questions.
My telephone personality is upbeat, motivating, encouraging and calm. I want the callers to feel at ease, happy and build trust as soon as possible.
My phone personality is very similar to how I would interact with an individual in person. However, when completing this first module I realized a few things that I do on the phone I would not do in person.
For example, I say "uh, umm" and other various fillers. I feel that I need to work on this because I am sure if I think about it from the listener's perspective it's not helpful.
I also noticed that I don't have a consistant greeting. Because we receive phone calls from different avenues sometimes I am not alert and I will answer one of our lines that is a direct student the same way that I would from a vendor.
I put on a smile - literally - and do my best to sound upbeat. I do pay attention to the ebb and flow of the speech pattern of my caller and match them when I can, while keeping the conversation focused to the topic at hand.
I think I am friendly and courteous on the phone, and I do my best to engage the caller and to smile.
However I also use fillers too much (mostly "umm") and don't always have a clear trajectory of the call, so I trail off or don't complete sentences. I need to work on this.
My issue is that I don't want to sound like I am using a script, but without a script I sometimes get lost- I am new to this so maybe it will get better with practice.
I would say that my phone personality is friendly, inquisitive, and then full of knowledge.
I have been told that I am very warm on the phone, and that I connect well with other people easily. People quickly develop a good level of comfort with me on the phone. I would say my biggest weakness would be that I tend to talk fast, and sometimes I don't leave time for students to provide me with their own infomation.
Great observations, Jenny. It's true, your mood can come across on the phone - so smiling is a great practice. Especially when you're working to help your students feel comfortable sharing informations. It sounds like you take a sincere interest in your students and do your best to demonstrate that in your phone calls. Great work.
I always try to answer with a smile. I truly believe that my mood shows through :) I ask questions that will warrant more then just yes and no answers and always try to get the prospective student to come into the facility for a visit!
I would be patient, listen to what they have to say and respond from there. If I see my energy is much higher than the individual in front of me I try to mirror my personality to them but still be myself.
Sounds like you work to set a positive tone with your prospective students on the phone. It's great that you work to generate excitement with your students Donna, how would you adapt if your students didn't respond to your enthusiasm?
My phone personality tends to be a very excited and upbeat tone. I like to build a rapport with individuals over the phone.
That's a great practice, Germaine! It sounds like you work to set a positive tone on the telephone but also take into consideration how your tone may be percieved by the student. This is wonderful awareness to have and it's great that you adapt to meet the student on their terms rather than expect them to meet you where you're at! Keep up the good work.
i am usually very energetic and very excited for the student, but I tend to change my tone to fit the students personality so I am not to overwhelming
Thanks for sharing, Jason. It sounds like you do your best to put your best self forth when on the phone and that is key! It's good that you're aware of the fact that your excitement may lead you to speak to quickly, which can be hard for students to follow. Taking the time to assess how your calls went afterward can be helpful in identifying certain areas/topics that you'd like more training on. Good luck!
