Here are some great top tips from me for you to create the best rapport on the telephone. Check out the link below to see my article on behalf of Beyond The Box posted on callcenterhelper.com.

http://www.callcentrehelper.com/top-tips-for-building-rapport-on-the-telephone-2646.htm

This topic should be of particular interest to all in the business world.  Do let me know your own thoughts on the subject,  perhaps from your own personal experiences!

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Beyond The Box has appointed a new colleague Michael Marks as field marketing manager. Michael has previously spent 11 years with Black Horse Estate Agencies as national training manager. He has also held senior positions with the Farrell Heyworth estate agency and the Telecoms Advice Bureau.

Michael can be seen here leading a workshop 

Welcome to our team Michael!

Beyond The Box wishes you all the best with your new position. We are glad to have you with us!

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It has been quite amazing and rewarding to watch a group of people previously unknown to each other build relationships over a 7 week period. Similarities were drawn to the Big Brother House on many occasions! Without doubt I feel extremely privileged to have watched the journey progress and relationships form and strengthen. With such diversity in the group, age, background, culture, previous experience, hobbies, lifestyle, - to put it simply an extremely colourful tapestry many may have concluded it would take time to form a cohesive group. On the contrary – throughout my lifetime I have never seen a group bond so well. I feel confident that apart from forging strong personal friendships it has also formed a special team culture with values that extend well into one of total support for colleagues. That is so important for any working team especially when they will be working remotely. I thought about Bruce Tuckman’s 1965 Forming Storming Norming Performing team-development model and did some more research on the web about group formation. here is a link to Tuckman’s work http://www.businessballs.com/tuckmanformingstormingnormingperforming.htmIt makes reference to teams and leadership and though I can see some similarities, this group is very different to anything I have ever witnessed before. Respect for each other was always present and though some individuals clearly fitted into ‘family member’ roles I never experienced any battle for supremacy or ‘pole position’. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has any additional information on group formation. Perhaps members of this group can shed light on why it became a strong unit so quickly and maintained its strength with out any signs of cracks over a 7 week period! 

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The training team employed by Beyond The Box to work with DSGI can be seen below. The journey that followed included product knowledge training from a selection of manufacturers and training skills from Beyond The Box. Keep in touch to follow their journey!

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Those who know me well are aware of my interest in letter writing,  business or personal. I still get a flutter of excitement when a personal letter drops through the post. Sadly email doesn’t hold the same thrill factor but the I do like the fact that it enables us all to keep in touch to a much greater level, and that is a good thing. When delivering communication courses I always include a section on written communication with reference to writing the content in the style of the reader. Lynn Gaertner-Johnston the founder of Syntax training has written a lovely article about just that - taking into account your reader when you write. Lynn has included some great tips on how to recognise different styles which is really easy to follow and interesting too!  I know which style I fall into

Take a look at it here and maybe you can spot your own style. Feel free to get back to me to let me know how much you enjoyed it: http://www.syntaxtraining.com/articles_biz_writing1.html

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I am just in the process of collating some information about how we use the telephone. Considering all of the modern day inventions the telephone for me is by far the best. I am currently working from my friend’s apartment in Spain and they set me up to use SKYPE on my PC. It still leaves me astounded how we can speak to, and hear clearly someone in another country. I used the SKYPE this morning to call Joanne at the office and the conversation was as clear as if I was standing next to her.

So as I mentioned I started to take a look at some articles that would enlighten me more about how we use the telephone.

I came across a really straightforward piece that reminded me of a few tips when talking on the telphone.

I am particularly mindful of point 3 which suggests we unplug the phone for a period of time in order to concentrate.

It made me think about the occasions I have called people and they have answered only to tell me they are in a meeting and can’t talk. If that is the case why asnwer the phone in the first place?

Then I realised I am equally guilty of the same thing. Why do we do it? I can only speak for myself in this situation - I’m too nosey! I see a number on the phone that is not familair to me and just have to answer it! It could be the contract that leads me to an early retirement! To date it never has been - as you can see I’m still working. It may be someone I know and just failed to recognise the number, it may be someone selling something, it may be a social call. Whoever it is you can guarantee that if I’m busy I say - sorry busy at the moment I’ll call you back, or in a meeting can you call back later. The message it sends to the caller is ‘I’ve ansered the phone but now I know who you are, I have realised you are not important enough to interupt what I’m doing’. What a great put down and fabulous route to making someone feel inferior. In the same situation I know my thought has always been, why did you answer the call then. Who were you hoping to speak to? Not a good message to send out.

I shall certainly be thinking twice about putting ‘free from telephone’ time aside in the future. I shall also be thinking about how I answer if I am actually busy. My inital thought is to say something in the vein of:

‘Thanks for contacting me, though I am tied up at the moment I didn’t want to ignore your call.  I just wanted to check if it’s OK to call you back in about an hour when we can talk at length without interuption?’

No doubt I will improve on this phrase as I start to use it. It has two benefits that come to my immediate attention

1) I’m sure it will go someway to letting the caller know they are important and that I haven’t dismissed them and made them feel uncomfortable.

2) My natural nosiness can be nurtured!

The last point made in the linked article gives another timely reminder to - which of the six will help improve your telephone talk, let me know your thoughts?

You can find it here:   http://visualizationmeditation.com/telephone-can-be-a-time-waster/138/

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One of my favourite aspects of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is ‘Representational Systems’. The discovery that some people communicate in visual mode, some in auditory and others kinesthetically suddenly created a huge ‘penny drop’ for me.

As a high visual it was a huge surprise to me to hear that some people cannot ’see pictures’ or visualise a conversation to digest what is being communicated to them. The representational system tells us that:

Visuals use words in phrases such as

It looks good to me,    I can see what you mean,   Is it clear to you?   Picture this

Auditories would say:

It sounds good to me,  Can you hear what I’m saying,  Is this ringing any bells?

Kinesthetics would say:

It feels good to me,  What are your thoughts,  I’ve got a handle on that now,  Shall we touch base.

Listen to the words that others use and communicate with them in their chosen style. Example if you hear people using a lot of visual words in their dialogue, use visual words in your responses, likewise with auditories and kinesthetics. Doing this will help build rapport with the person you are having a conversation with. If you are unable to determine which style they prefer they may be comfortable with more than one so include all three styles in your communication.

Follow this link to check out some more info on this subject particularly in respect of how it can help build better business relationships:

http://www.pertinent.com/articles/communication/spilgrim8.asp

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The majority of Beyond The Box’s  interpersonal and communication training programmes make reference to the use of emails and their impact on communication. The written word has to rely soley on the words selected, puncutation and how the sentance is constructed.

When the written word is used as a communication tool body language and the way the words are spoken are no longer evident as ways to help the receiver understand the message being sent. When the spoken word is used collectively both of these mediums account for approximately 93% of the communication process. That means we rely on the 7% accounted for in words.

Good punctuation comes into its own by making the sentance logical and when used incorrectly it can change the meaning completely. Many of you may have read the book ‘Eats shoots and leaves’ by Lynn Truss. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eats-shoots-leaves-Tolerance-Punctuation/dp/1861976127 

which explains the importance of using punctuation.

Emails are an important and major part of both our personal and working lives. They can enhance both of these areas or have the opposite effect by alienating friends and customers alike.

You may want to check out this article by Chris McClean for more information.

It’s worth taking a look. 

http://www.pertinent.com/articles/communication/chrisCom1.asp

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Those who know me well, know I am an avid collector of points on my licence, earned as a result of having my picture taken on the highways of Great Britain far to frequently. On the most recent occasion I was offered the option of another 3 points or my attendance at a national speed awareness course. I opted for the latter in pursuit of having a licence which for once in a period of a few years would mean that I have less than 12 points. I am so pleased I made that choice. I attended the course yesterday and came away totally enlightened. It’s some years since I took my test - over 30 if I’m being honest and things have changed since then. Apart from loss of memory in relation to some road signs the highway code has been updated to a point of unrecognition on my part. I learnt loads in fact most people present did.

The word enjoyable seems a strange word of choice to demonstrate how I received the information - after all the overall outcome of the programme is to save lives by reducing road traffic accidents  so enjoyable sounds somewhat insensitive.

I did though I really enjoyed it, the trainers were easy to talk to, never judged anyone and made the content interactive and fun. The course was packed with facts and information that will certainly help to remind me to read the road and watch my speed and have a greater understanding of how anyone hit at over 30mph has less chance of surviving.  I’d recommend anyone who is faced with the same option to take it. It could be the reason you or others are not a casualty of a road traffic accident.

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