Want to make your phone calls feel more polished and well received? Here are some helpful tips to help:

1. Pray before beginning each phone call. This one simple but significant step will make your call, and your day, go better. As you pray, remember to ask Our Heavenly Father to bless the person you are calling, and ask Him for guidance and grace as you seek to do His will in your conversation.
2. Before you begin your call, take a moment to remember details about who you are calling. Rehearse, out loud, the important points of your last conversation with them, their company information, names of their family members, or any other interesting facts you can call to mind. This will get their attention more than anything else, just knowing you care about them.
3. Avoid “Rush Hour” and Mondays. Use wisdom when timing your calls.Try to avoid opening and closing times, and noon to 1pm. Wait until Tuesday morning to begin making important phone calls. If it’s Monday and the call cannot be put off any longer, and if it is absolutely necessary that these calls be made on Monday, at least wait until Monday afternoon. This gives your contact a little room to breathe and recover from Monday morning.
4. Before you call, write down important dates and points you want to cover during your conversation. Have a pad of paper or journal calendar open and ready to jot down thoughts and notes during your call. Also have at least two or three dependable pens and/or pencils ready, in case one fails. If you are especially adept with your phone, you can drop your notes there. Some of us like to scribble and doodle while talking, which may be a case for the pen and paper!
5. Smile into the phone, be positive. Be open and relaxed, and genuinely listen if the other person starts to talk. “Make it relational, not transactional”.
6. Keep your mind open to new ideas, not merely the agenda you are proposing. Seriously consider their proposals if they are in line with Biblical ethics and your own ideas or changes. If you are negotiating, and encounter a roadblock or objection, think of alternative solutions. Let them know you are going to be working on a solution that will be good for both sides. Offer to pray about suggestions as they come in, and really pray about them!
7. Repeat their words back to them: repeat key phrases, upcoming dates, appointments and important names they have been talking about, so there will be no misunderstandings later on. Jot down this key information during your conversation, and recap this information at the end of your call. This is a very important step.
8. Agree on a specific date and time for your next meeting, event date, meetup or phone conversation. How many times have you said “We will have to get together some time for coffee”…then left it at that? And frequently, “some time” never happens! It is far better to set a date while on the phone, then if you need to change or cancel it later, you can. Put this date on your calendar right away! If you decide to touch base at a later date or plan a get-together, assign a date and time to touch base before getting off the phone.
9. Follow up. When you hang up, send them a follow-up email or message, thanking them for their valuable time. Confirm the date and time you will be meeting with them next.
10. Send them a reminder email or message the day before they are to meet with you, confirming that they will show up. This will save time and embarrassment on both sides.