Six Steps to Master The Art of the Quick Phone Call

Good advice from a top venture capital investor on what he wants to hear.

Before you call Mark Suster, a two-time entrepreneur who joined GRP Partners in 2007  after selling his company to Salesforce.com, with your next big idea, first listen to some of his advice.

“When a person calls me and we’re 10 minutes into the call and it’s not clear why they’re calling I’m usually thinking to myself, “what was the reason they wanted to call me in the first place?  What are they hoping to achieve?” and mostly, “How can I help?”

Suster’s suggests:   

1. You can start informally with banter – If I’m calling somebody I know a bit I usually try to start with a little friendly banter. If I know they like a sports team that might be a good start. If I saw their company in the press, heard that they saw somebody at an event that I know, they live in a town where a storm just rolled through – whatever. I think trying to humanize the call from the outset is good. When you jump straight into “sales pitch mode” it feels a bit strange.

Two things to watch for: 1) if you’re trying banter to build rapport but not “feeling it” then quickly shift to business. Some people just aren’t “chit chatters” and prefer to get on with things. I find that kinda boring, but I know some people are just wired that way. 2) some callers take this banter too far It starts to border on disrespectful of the person’s time or wasteful of your 15 minutes. Don’t be that person.

How long you go for is really a judgment call because there’s no right answer. If it’s somebody that I know really well and I confirm that they’re not rushing to do something else I might even take 10-15 minutes just to “catch up.” If it’s a general acquaintance it’s probably more like 3-4 minutes. If it’s a first time call you might try to keep it at 2 minutes or less.

So even if the person you called is really chatty don’t be undisciplined and let them talk too long. You have limited time on the call, presumably you called for a reason and you’re chewing up your valuable clock.

2. Let them know why you’re calling – When you’re ready to pivot the conversation your next line should be some derivative of, “listen, the reason I’m calling is … blah, blah, blah” 25% of people or less actually do this. They just talk and I’m not really sure why they called.

If you’re calling for a reason, the sooner the recipient knows the sooner they can help. If the clock runs out they’re not going to be able to help. Even if you don’t have a single “ask” I recommend saying something like, “listen, I’m going to make this call short. I don’t have anything I’m asking for, I was just hoping to get 10 minutes of your time to tell you what we’re up to so that the next chance we get to meet down the line you’ve got more of an understanding.”

3. Don’t hang yourself – One of the other big mistakes callers make is going “off to the races” talking about their business without getting any feedback from the recipient of the call. This is bad enough in person but I promise you if you do it over the phone the recipient will start to tune out. If you listen closely you’ll probably even hear the tapping of a keyboard. You can talk for a bit but then seek feedback and make sure the other person is “with you.” When I used to do a lot of recruiting we used to call it “hanging yourself” because people who talk for long periods of time without seeking feedback are generally not self-aware or good at human interaction. Don’t be that person.

4. Ask questions – The best trick for creating a two-way conversation is to ask questions. You can do this too early in the call and you can’t be an interview factory, but polite questions relevant to your topic are appropriate. It will help ensure that you don’t do all the talking. Plus, when you listen you learn more anyways.

5. Know what “the ask” is – If you’re set up a call with somebody then know in advance why you’re calling and what you plan to ask for. Don’t ask for four things or you’ll get none. Don’t ask for big favors unless you have a tight relationship. Don’t assume that this will be the one and only time you’ll ever talk to the person. If you cultivate a good long-term relationship through patience, persistence and reciprocity there will be many more occasions. So by all means have an “ask” but make it: obvious, easy for them to achieve and of a limited number – preferably one.

6. Stick to your budgeted time – maybe less – When you think of your relationship with the individual as a relationship you’ll build over time and over many calls, discussions, chats at conferences or whatever you’ll realize you need to be known for being respectful of others’ time. If you’re known as the person who’s always long winded you’re less likely to get the next few calls on the calendar. Less is better, I promise.

h/t Jody Padar

Posted on November 22, 2010