In a world where many people work from home or in remote locations where they are by themselves, many things that they normally would be conscious of in an office environment are often not considered. For example, many entrepreneurs get up in the morning and ease into work, forgetting to shower until late morning or even later! Not to mention the line between the home and office becoming blurry or even non existent.

On my monitor I have a dot-com relic – a “rear-view mirror” given to people in the cubicle world to see who was coming up behind them. Stamped on the mirror is “Planet Direct,” a personalized Web portal once part of CMGi now called MyWay.com and owned by another acronym holding company, IAC.

Why would I have a mirror when I work at home? Before you write it off solely to vanity (though I won’t deny it isn’t some part of it!) it is there so I can look at myself when I am in conversation with someone. It reminds me there is a person on the other end of the phone, and if I was in front of them, I would be concerned about my facial expressions – something that can unconsciously carry over into a phone conversation.

The next time you are about to make a phone call – smile first, and be aware of it while on the phone. A positive attitude going into it can help the outcome of the conversation. And who knows – maybe the person on the other end of the phone will somehow realize you are smiling and may be smiling back?

Comments

“forgetting to shower until late morning or even later!”

Wait, we’re supposed to shower? ;)

That’s good advice (the smiling, that is) Working from home, it’s far too easy to get into bad habits. Becoming anti-social is never good for business.

Comment by Dr. Pete
on 12/21/07 at 09:51 AM
 

Great idea, Mike. As a reporter, I’m on the phone all the friggin’ time, and it’s easy to seem like a real prick, especially when you’re parachuting in for that one quote.

It’s important, from a business standpoint, to make your customers feel valued, and good phone manners can really elevate your image.

Good post!

Comment by Daniel
on 12/21/07 at 02:53 PM
 

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