CHRISISM #10 - Standing Up On The Phone

16 February 2016

To this day I remember the surge of adrenalin I experienced when I walked for the first time into the offices of Berkeley Walbrook - the company with which I was to start my career in the life insurance industry some 9 months later in November 1978.

It was an open plan office with around 30 young, dark suited and power tied individuals (largely but not exclusively male) either standing up on the phone or sitting at their desk with a client in the open plan - the atmosphere and the "buzz" were electric! I share this with you because it was such a world apart from the morgue like cubicled cocoon of my office in the Bank of America in the City of London at that time.

Having become a client of this life insurance brokerage in March 1978, I joined it as a trainee consultant in November of the same year, attracted as much as anything else by the 'shot in the arm' I got whenever I visited the office. Almost immediately I discovered the importance of standing up on the phone - especially when prospecting.

There are 2 main reasons why it is so important to stand up and move around on the phone. The first is a boring, scientific reason and the second is for me a much more important consideration.

I'm sure you would all agree that when you are standing up and moving around, you are more physically agile than when you are sitting down - obvious, right? But did you realise that it has been scientifically proven that when you are standing up and moving around, you are also more mentally agile than when you are sitting down?

How many of the people you call at their workplace are likely to be standing up and moving around when talking to you on the phone? A very small number, I would say. So if you are standing up and moving around yourself, you will have an immediate edge in terms of mental agility over the person at the other end of the phone - not to be sniffed at!

But much more importantly, I believe you should find it impossible to sit down on the phone - especially when prospecting; that is assuming the result of the call matters to you. You see, if the result of the call, i.e. whether you make the appointment or not, matters to you, then there will be a chemical ingredient pumping in your system that will render you incapable of sitting down motionless in a chair and that is what we call adrenalin. If you have adrenalin coursing through your veins, then you have to be on the move and consequently both physically and mentally more agile - and therefore, trust me, more likely to get the result you are looking for.

This has been just the first of a dozen golden rules on the phone that make up one of the seven sessions in my upcoming "Client Acquisition & Engagement Skills" workshops around the 5 major capitals in March/April. Just click on the link below for the details of this workshop in your capital city and I hope to see you there. 

CLIENT ACQUISITION & ENGAGEMENT SKILLS WORKSHOP DATES & TIMES

SYDNEY TUESDAY 22 MARCH

LEVEL 3, 1 JAMES PLACE, NORTH SYDNEY

9.00am to 4.30pm

SYDNEY WORKSHOP REGISTER HERE for this workshop NOW TO GET YOUR EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT  

MELBOURNE THURSDAY 14 APRIL

LEVEL 23, 500 COLLINS ST

9.00am to 4.30pm

MELBOURNE REGISTER HERE for this workshop NOW TO GET YOUR EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT  

ADELAIDE TUESDAY 5 APRIL

LEVEL 18, 45 GRENFELL ST

9.00am to 4.30pm

ADELAIDE REGISTER HERE for this workshop NOW TO GET YOUR EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT  

PERTH WEDNESDAY 6 APRIL

LEVEL 12, 58 MOUNTS BAY ROAD

9.00am to 4.30pm

PERTH REGISTER HERE for this workshop NOW TO GET YOUR EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT  

BRISBANE TUESDAY 12 APRIL

MEZZANINE LEVEL, 88 CREEK ST

9.00am to 4.30pm

BRISBANE REGISTER HERE for this workshop NOW TO GET YOUR EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT  

The Risk Workshop by Chris Unwin

Are you a financial adviser who would like all of your clients to have appropriate types and levels of personal protection? But perhaps you feel you need a more structured and client friendly engagement process?