Think of teachers you had in school, or a professor in college who was able to speak in a nice even tone, yet his or her voice carried. Now obviously this is not necessary on telephone. However, this kind of even toned, lower than usual voice is kind you want to use. Try to emulate this person in your telephone calling or in dealing with customers face to face.

The way you speak is very important. The pitch and inflection of your voice are also very important. If you have a lot of trouble with this you might want to purchase books on speaking that address issues of pitch and inflection in your speaking voice. Check out Amazon or Barnes and Noble. They have a wide selection. Again, you are not going to change this overnight. Remember, practice makes perfect.

Two additional common phrases we all have a tendency to use are I believe, and I think. This is fine for your friends and family. However, as a business owner and “an expert” you had better “know”.

For all of you coaches out there be careful with “we will hopefully achieve”. Make a list of all that they will achieve by going with your program, obviously with caveat that they do work outlined.

So take inventory of what you are saying on telephone; your in-person sales and in your dealings with your customers (for those of you in a storefront). Is your “word language” conveying what you want it to. Or like our body language sometimes, are your words conveying something totally different to your customer. Check to see if you are using any of above phrases and stop! It may take a while but you will be happy you did.

Copyright 2003 DeFiore Enterprises

Being trained in coaching skills is first step and real learning comes from experiencing coaching for yourself personally and coaching others. Therefore, it's important that you don't just get trained in basic coaching skills and leave it there. There needs to be a supportive structure and environment for you to continue with your coaching. How often have you learned something new, only to find when you're back in workplace that you've only retained a little of it? Or that you're facing obstacles you don't know how to overcome? Managers need their own fully experienced coach to continue working with them after their initial training. This is where they'll dramatically improve their ability to coach and have confidence in themselves as coaches.

Training your managers in coaching skills doesn't have to be done all at once and overnight. You can choose to start in a small way perhaps with only a couple of managers and as you experience results, build on this. As you start thinking about training for your managers, I suggest you first find out what your managers really need to be effective; what they already know about coaching; what more they need to know and which of them already has a keen interest in learning to coach. Asking these questions of your managers will give you a clearer picture of what's needed. This may involve some time and commitment now, but it will ensure they get training they most need. Knowing your company as you do, what's most important action you can take today that will move your managers closer to being coaches?

Wendy Hearn - Business Coach