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Exuding Personal Presence - for Telemarketers
by Carly Anderson, with contributions by Allison McCarthy
In case you hadn’t noticed, the phone has become an extension of one’s anatomy. If you don’t have a mobile/cell phone, then you probably are in the dark ages (and that’s okay by me). Using telephone calls as a way to communicate with people across the country and around the world has also become standard practice. It’s the phenomenon of the virtual work environment that we will explore, and especially the aspect of creating a personal presence when you are not physically in front of people.
There is a lot of jargon and new words that have come into existence to describe communicating with people via telephone or the Internet. We now refer to these environments as ‘virtual’ so using conference calls or telephone appointments to connect is becoming standard practice for many professionals. And while the term “telemarketer” has become representative of those individuals hired to do nothing but make outgoing telephone calls for a sales or customer service purpose, we’ll use telemarketer more generally here to describe anyone who uses the telephone as a significant piece of their business “toolkit”.
This article focuses on how to create a strong personal presence on the telephone, when it may be sometime in the future before you meet the individual in person – if ever. How do you have these customers, prospects and/or constituents leave the telephone call feeling inspired to take action as a result?
While there are many facets to this, we’re only going to focus on a few skills and aspects of Personal Presence.
What is Personal Presence?
Unlike an in-person dialogue, a telephone interaction is invisible. To some degree, a telemarketer has to be more skilled than a live meeting participant, because they cannot rely on visual cues. There are no walls defining the room, no handshaking or side conversations to get to know another person. There is no body language to watch or expressions to observe.
Because of the invisible nature of this environment, a boring and disengaging dialogue will turn people off very quickly, causing participants to exercise their displeasure by simply hanging up, or not taking the action you had hoped would result.
That is why Personal Presence is so important. This is an ability to convey safety, trust, compassion and strength to the point where your constituents are inspired to engage at a higher level. Personal Presence is the intangible part of any salesperson, marketing professional or relationship builder’s role, and makes the difference to people being turned off from taking action, or feeling inspired to.
The Skills of Personal Presence
A masterful telemarketer uses the principles of relationship development to maximum effect in this environment. Wherever possible, they draw out the brilliance of the person on the other end of the line through the use of open-ended questions, through using wonder and curiosity as an entry point to further discovery, and are willing to be in service to others rather than playing the expert or superior role.
The telemarketer thinks of themselves as a co-creator and encourages interaction. They don’t try to say everything on one call, as they know relationships are developed over time. They trust the process, rather than forcing their “pitch” on people.
From thousands of hours of personal experience, here are the core skills of personal presence. By integrating these skills into your telephone work, you’ll be rewarded with the emergence of your own unique and personal style.
Beingness – the ability to communicate resourcefulness and expertise without dominating the entire call.
Space and Silence – the currency of Beingness. If the telemarketer fills the space with their voice, there is no space for the recipient of the call to participate and engage interest.
Choose Your Role – the ability to know what is required of you as a telemarketer at any point in time on a call. Sometimes it may be Expert, other times it may be Interviewer, Confidante, or something else.
Voice Variation – voice and tonality define your presence on a call. The telephone call recipient will assess your presence to a large degree by how you sound.
Be Generous – this is an attitude that permeates the virtual space, based on what you are emanating as the telemarketer. You can hear if someone is directing the conversation from a place of fear versus openness, scarcity versus abundance.
Be Present – work with what shows up on the call, rather than rigidly sticking to your agenda. Rigidity blocks the flow of your presence.
Be Gracious – the ability to recognize that people react with their own reasons. Some people will annoy you or attempt to disrupt. If you have well-developed core conversational skills, you can handle anything that happens, with grace.
Next time you are on the phone, see how many of these skills of Personal Presence you can incorporate. Notice the impact of your presence, and if it is driving them away from you or bringing the person closer to you.
These skills of personal presence are expanded on in the reference guide written by Carly Anderson called "How to Lead Effective and Engaging Teleseminars." Click here for more information on the guide
Carly Anderson is an international Master Certified Coach (MCC) and author. She works with leaders and high achievers to create more success in their business activities, and on their terms. Carly is an expert on the virtual learning environment having led teleconference calls for thousands of people on coaching skills, manager effectiveness and leading teleclasses. She is a senior faculty member for Coach Inc. and is part of a team that delivers unique leadership development and coaching programs to blue-chip companies globally.
Allison McCarthy is Managing Consultant with Corporate Health Group. With almost 20 years in health care administration, she provides insights on medical practice growth and relationship management. Her consulting specialties include physician relations, recruitment and retention, medical practice marketing and concierge medicine program development. She has served as faculty, presenter and author for several health care associations and periodicals, and can frequently be heard at The Forum for Health Care Strategies, the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development, and the American Academy of Medical Management. She is a certified member of the American College of Medical Practice Executives. For more information go to www.corporatehealthgroup.com
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