Conference Calls - Training is Vital
By Steve Hill
Conference calls are becoming a main stay for businesses according to research conducted by mobile headset-maker Plantronics.
The research discovered that office workers are spending an average of three hours more a week on the phone than they did just 12 months ago.
It appears this maybe partly economic — 40 per cent of those in the survey stated that they needed to cut spending and this had led them to use conference calls, plus an environmental element.
54 percent of businesses felt heir calls were not as effective as they could be, often due to a lack of etiquette — with late joiners, heavy breathers, disappearing acts half-way through a conversation.
So the question is how can Enigin Distributors improve things in their energy saving business?
Consider these points:
- People may not be able to see you but they can still hear you. Use the same etiquette in a conference call as you would in a face-to-face meeting. You wouldn’t dream of check your emails or begin talking to someone else during a meeting, so why do it during a conference call?
- Treat the other callers as an audience: Thirty percent claimed to lose interest because other caller’s voices were boring or annoying. As with other presentations, conference calls require the speaker to engage with his audience, holding their attention. Vary your tone of your voice, the pace at which you speak and the power to vary and convey your message. Your energy and passion for the subject will be projected through your voice helping to keep listeners engaged.
- Like most skills, this needs to be taught Conference calling maybe more common place but most people have never had any formal training on how to use it effectively. It will pay great dividends to provide or get some training on using the equipment and on presentation skills. This becomes even more vital if you’re using conference calls to pitch to customer.
- Use equipment and surroundings wisely, noise cancelling headsets and/or suitable office space to participate in a conference call. Think about any attendees who will be dialling in remotely as they will need the right equipment too.
- Provide a script for your conference call. Not that users need to know what they’re going to say word-for-word, but provide the meeting with a clear structure. Create an agenda for the call, providing clear direction ensuring that all the time is used effectively. If involving more than two people the call requires a moderator, who will drive and control the conference. This will stop the call from digressing while ensuring that each contributor gets enough time to cover their points.
The research revealed that just in the UK about four out of every five office workers are now taking part in three or more conference calls each week, hence businesses cannot afford unproductive conferences, business owners and managers need to have the correct supporting technology and training in place to make them work.
At Enigin we are also using conference calling to greater extent and many of our workforce have had high level presentation training which equips them well when participating in conference calls - make sure you provide the right level of training for your staff.
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