Have your receptionist read this.
I really like Bert Webb’s suggestion (from his Open Loops blog) to identify hidden messages in your communication. He has a great example in his post How to Say What You Really Mean:
"Good afternoon, Mr. Webb's office, may I help you?"
"Yes, This is Bob Smith. I need an appointment with Mr. Webb as soon as possible to discuss the situation involving the AYP project at his site."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Webb, cannot meet with you until late next week. His calendar is quite full, I'm afraid."
With that, my secretary has just told my caller that I am so busy that he is considered unimportant, that his project is not a priority with me, and that, no matter what the topic is, I'm too inflexible to make adjustments in my calendar for priorities that arise unexpectedly. Get in line, suck it up, and deal with it, Buddy.
Bert then suggests a better alternative:
How should my secretary have have handled the caller mentioned at the beginning of this post? Let's listen in:
"Good afternoon, Mr. Webb's office, may I help you?"
"Yes, this is Bob Smith. I need an appointment with Mr. Webb as soon as possible to discuss the situation involving the AYP project at his site."
"I'll be very happy to make you an appointment; let me look at his calendar. I see that he has two openings next week, one on Wednesday at 9 AM and the other on Thursday at 2 PM. Which one would fit your schedule better?"
And with that simple turn of a phrase, 90% of my callers are happy to accept the appointment next week and feel positively about it. She has said we welcome your appointment, that I am busy but have time for his concerns, and that I recognize his schedule is important, too. Should the caller still feel that he needs to see me sooner, it would continue like this:
"But that's too late, our deadline is this Friday."
"Mr. Smith, may I have a number where you can be reached in the next couple of hours? I'll personally speak with Mr. Webb to see if there is a way to work you in more quickly. I'll call you back as soon as I speak with him."
I may or may not be able to accommodate Mr. Smith, but we have added the message that I am flexible and am willing to work with his deadlines as much as I possibly can.
The final bit of advice:
Begin to look at your word and phrase choices. Consciously choose the hidden messages in your words and phrases to convey what you want them to. Even more, train your staff so they, as the front line of your organization, broadcast the same positive hidden messages to your clients and customers.
I’ve been reading Open Loops for a while. Take a look. I’m sure it will become a regular read.