For many of us in sales, it is an everyday occurrence to conduct sales meetings on a conference call with participants from multiple locations. While this can be a terrific way to communicate to multiple people in different locations, the call can be ruined by music on hold, shuffling papers, dogs barking, and background conversations. All this chatter devalues the message. Additionally, the host needs to manage the call and keep things on track by practicing some basic conference call etiquette.
For the presenter, here are a few suggestions:
– Introduce yourself. When you enter the conference call, introduce yourself, stating your name and location. This applies to the audience as well.
– State the purpose of the meeting. People are busy, so don’t waste their time.
– Reconfirm the time required for the meeting and then stick to that schedule.
– Be on time. Nothing is more insulting than joining a call on time to discover that you have to wait on the host. Duh!
– Don’t read the presentation. Your audience can do that without you; instead, talk about what the slides mean.
– Send your PowerPoint in advance so everyone has a copy; this way you won’t have to waste time resending or sending the slide deck at the front end of the meeting.
Request your audience (and the presenter) do the following:
– Turn off cell phones and pagers that might ring or make noise during the call.
– If you’re using a multi-line phone, turn off all the ringers.
– Move your PDA away from the phone because it may make noise or cause interference.
– Land line are preferred. You will get a clearer connection if you use a corded phone.
– Cell and cordless phones may cause an echo and static. If you must use a cell phone, be sure the battery is fully charged, and stay at a place where your signal is strong. I once had cordless phone which beeped incessantly when the battery was low.
– Call in early. A few minutes before the conference call, dial the conference phone number and enter any user codes. This will give you adequate time to trouble-shoot if there are any issues with access.
– If you have a call-waiting feature on your phone, disable it before calling into the conference by first dialing *70 and then waiting for the dial tone.
– Mute your phone. Muting keeps distracting sounds from disturbing the call. CONFIRM that you are on mute to avoid embarrassing yourself as you mutter to yourself about the ineptitude of the presenter, or whatever you say to yourself.
– If the call can’t be muted, don’t shuffle papers, type on your computer, or make any other distracting noises.
– Don’t put the phone on hold. If you have to step away, don’t put your phone on hold during the call or the other conference participants may hear your on-hold music.
– If you want to make a comment, be brief and concise. Don’t ramble on and monopolize the conversation.
– Speak clearly. Be sure to speak slowly, enunciate your words, speak directly into the telephone mouthpiece, and speak loud enough to be heard.
Conference calls can be great for selling, but you need to manage them.
John Bradley Jackson
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