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tranfree issue 23 - 18th December 2000
Top 8 Telephone Tips
by Apollo (one of our forum moderators)
translatortips forums
I've often heard it said that the telephone is the most important
piece of equipment a translator can have. To an extent that's
true. But occasionally it's not used to its best advantage. So
here I'd like to take a look at some common errors and how to
avoid them...
1) Sounding Stressed
I know when you're busy and the phone doesn't stop, it's hard not
to sound stressed! But a good way around this is to smile as you
answer the phone. Try it! It changes "stressed" to "smiley", and
gives a much more positive impression of you. It's much nicer to
deal with pleasant people, and they're the ones we go back to
time and time again.
2) Not Returning Calls
Yes, a project manager may try 30 people before placing a
translation. Yours may be one of 29 messages left on
answerphones. But it creates a really good impression if you do
call back, if only to say "sorry, I'm busy"! It tells us you're
conscientious and care about your clients.
3) (Not) Using Call Waiting
Call Waiting in itself is fine. Except most people ignore it and
carry on their original conversation! Very frustrating. Why buy
it if you don't use it?
All you have to do is switch calls, say "Hi, I'll call you back
in a minute", and that's it! Much better than ignoring the call
and hoping whoever it was will call back. They won't!
4) Allowing Children to Answer the Phone
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against children! But if a
small child answers the call, we have to ask ourselves whether
this is someone who takes their work seriously. Sometimes it's
unavoidable, but as Alex mentions in his book, it's much better
to bribe them to leave it alone... 
5) Taking the phone off the hook if you're very busy
This is my pet hate! If your line is genuinely engaged then
that's sometimes frustrating. But if someone has just taken
themselves out of action, that's very...
...annoying. Much better to
have an answerphone message saying you're very busy and can't
come to the phone. At least then we can leave a message!
6) Being rude!
If you're busy you may not be pleased when someone calls you
with a job, especially if you don't know them. But you'd be
amazed at how many people respond to such calls with a marked
lack of politeness!
"I'm very busy, I haven't got time for companies I don't know"
...is one such example. Not usually put that nicely, in fact! It
doesn't take long to say you're sorry, you're very busy and can't
help, but do call again and we can discuss working together. Same
message, very different results.
7) Don't Assume You're The Only Person They Called
You would be amazed at how many people are left answerphone
messages regarding new jobs to be done. They then get annoyed
when the project manager has already placed the job with someone
else! Messages are left "just in case", but we do keep calling
round. It's unavoidable. We have clients wanting everything NOW,
so we have no choice. Please don't take it out on us!
8) Assuming people know what you're talking about
Most translators are guilty of this.
You're working on a job for a client. Because it's at the
forefront of your mind, you assume it's at the forefront of your
client's mind too. 99 times out of 100, it isn't. I may have 15
or 20 jobs in progress at any one time.
If you then call me and say...
"what does this sentence on page 4 mean"
...I won't know what you're talking about. It's very helpful if
you can say...
"I'm doing a job XYZ for you, can you spare
a minute to help me out with something?".
...it makes you sound organised and caring!
You'll see in the above that I mention good impressions a lot.
This is because good impressions count. As a project manager, I
don't know anything about you except the languages and subjects
you offer.
So first impressions of you are important. As Alex says in his
book, make your clients genuinely like you as a person. It works!
It certainly does work. Become their friend in a genuine way and
it's impossible for the client to not want to call you
It does take time talking to people to get to this level, so you
have to be sensitive if they might be busy.
So another tip would be...
Don't go on and on and on unless you've already checked they
aren't stressed out with 3 zillion jobs to do today. Just show
them that you care about them and they'll care about you.
Contributed by Apollo - one of our forum moderators
Come and talk to Apollo at the...
translatortips forums
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