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CHAPTER X

Telephone Talks That Took

To many persons who are unemployed, the tele­phone has been nothing but a convenience. If the Help Wanted advertisement said that the answer was to be by telephone, then the routine was to call the number, give the name, identify the ad and ask for an interview. Whenever that was the procedure, a splendid opportunity was thrown away. For the telephone is a wonderful chance for making a first good impression and for putting the personality across.

If you are in any doubt about that point, just recall some episodes in your own experience. Haven't you picked up the telephone many times and talked on some business matter to a person whom you have never seen or heard before, and haven't you thought how nice he sounded? And on the other hand, haven't you called some man's secretary or perhaps the girl at the dry cleaner's…

or the man at the theatrical ticket office, and thought to yourself after you hung up: "What an unpleasant person!"

But this is not a discussion of general telephone ethics and deportment. Let the other fellow talk as he pleases—or as he feels. He has a job, hasn't he? But we—you and ourselves—are out to get one. And if the telephone has any merit that can help speed that job, why not take full advantage of it? The whole problem then simmers down to this: What can the telephone do? And the answer is simply: It can put personality across and make the individual sound desirable.

Since the whole setup is focused on speech with the speaker invisible, the first step would be to make sure that your voice is right. Now this is no premise for elocution lessons or vocal lessons, ex­cellent as they both are. Nor does it concern your timbre or your range, or whether your voice is husky or light, whether it is low or high, whether it is thin or heavy—those qualities are not here involved. Many of them, indeed, may be beyond your control. But the most important factor is en­tirely in your hands. For it does matter tremen­dously if the voice sounds gay and cheerful, spirited and confident, courteous and pleasant. And you can…

make yours have just that agreeable ring.

But you may be thinking: "It is all very well to talk of having a happy and enthusiastic voice. But how is it possible when you are all upset and worried about being out of work?" But that is just the point. If you want to get that job, you will have a better chance if you sound vivid and interested.

Don't think for a minute that all actors are limited to the stage. There are plenty of people who are putting on a whale of a good show. Like them, you will just have to go into your act. Even if you have just met your twenty-fourth defeat. Sound pleasant, then, is the first step in successful job telephoning. And the second is: Make your message right.

The message itself is just as important as the manner in which it is delivered. Presently we are going to discuss its content or what you should say in your telephone call. But the point might be more clearly made if we first use our own experi­ence and then draw the illustration from it.

For the truth of the matter is that we took our telephoning very seriously. Before you went to the dial, did you ever spend an hour and a half writing out the things you were going to say? We did. And that may be one big reason for some good results…

we had at the telephone.

There are only two types of telephone calls: those you make yourself and those that you re­ceive. There are the same two types that deal with jobs. In the first, a Help Wanted ad has requested that the applicant answer by telephone. In the sec­ond, the answer was by letter and in the letter, the applicant's telephone number was given by request.

The first type will be considered first. We shall take you every step of the way from the moment we read the advertisement until we hung up the receiver after the call.

A certain ad read:

HAVE GOOD OPENING for two demonstrators of new XX washing machine. Must have pleasing personality and good appearance. Steady employment. Good salary. Age limit 25-45. Tel.: Grey 246.

Of course, the sooner the call was made, the better the chance. But a couple of hours of prepa­ration were far more advantageous than quickly snatching up the telephone and being the first one under the line. The picture of the employer was that of an above-the-average person, and what we wanted him to say was: "Why not come in and talk all this over?"

To us, the words of that ad were like marching…

orders. Nothing less would serve than putting on our hats and going straight to the house furnish­ing section of a large department store. For our immediate problem was to see this new washing machine in action. And like other women, we knew that the one sure place would be the house-furnishings section of a department store.

When it came to washing machines, like many other home makers, we were on familiar ground. We knew all the idiosyncrasies of our own models, and could practically run them in the dark. Also, through reading advertisements and articles in women's magazines, to say nothing of radio, we were conversant with other types of washing ma­chines besides our own.

But for this demonstrating job that was not enough. We had to go and find out the high points of the new washer, and see where it did differ from all other makes.

Our objective was Blanks. And true to our ex­pectations we found that the store not only carried the new XX machine, but was featuring demon­strations at stated intervals. The next was sched­uled for ten-thirty.

It was then ten o'clock, and we had a half hour to ourselves. But we made good use of that inter-…

val. We walked around the department and looked over the other makes of machines. Whenever any­thing puzzled us about one, we asked questions of a nearby saleswoman. One of them, instead of an­swering, handed us an advertising folder about a certain make. That gave us an idea, so we pro­ceeded to gather up all the printed matter we could find on the subject, and put it in our pocketbooks to study at home.

A little before ten-thirty we took our place with a small group of women who, like ourselves had been waiting for the demonstration. The new washer was near the wall, and we seated ourselves in the chairs that were placed around it. On the dot of the half hour a woman in a white uniform ap­peared and took charge.

For a full sixty minutes before our eyes she carried us straight through every step of a com­plete laundry. Someone, evidently designated be­forehand, had brought in a large family washing. This was used to make the complete demonstra­tion. And a very convincing one it was. For this one did everything but hang the laundry on the line. And no audience at a play was ever more en­thralled and spellbound than we women who saw that gleaming machine, with almost human intel-…

ligence, put the laundry right through its paces.

When the woman finished, we were all steamed up about it. We felt as if we could walk straight to the nearest telephone and convince the manager of the XX washer that we were the woman of the ad. We knew, that with the training they gave, we could tell the story every bit as well as that demon­strator. With what enthusiasm and conviction we could carry to women the great news of the drudgery-less washer!

But common sense stopped us and made us stay away from a telephone booth. Before we turned a dial, it behooved us to turn our bubbling en­thusiasm into convincing thoughts and sentences.

We can never think clearly in the midst of noise and excitement. So as rapidly as we could, we carried our impressions and our folders first to our house, then to the quiet and serenity of our own room.

Now we were all set. The first thing we had to do was to decide the points we wanted to make over the phone. Naturally, we hoped to say the things that would most recommend us for the job. Not that we should be able to run the conversa­tion, or have it take place the way we were in­formally going over it in our minds. But certainly…

we could write five points on a piece of paper, and make every effort to cling to that telephone re­ceiver until we had a chance to put them across. We could and we did! Here they are, just as we jotted them down on a little yellow card.

1.       Identify ad—get right person

2.       Give name

3.       Saw demonstration

4.   Much excited—why

5.   Right person for job—why

With the points before us, we wrote out in detail a mythical conversation. This writing gave us the chance to put our thoughts into words. To us such painstaking effort is necessary. We are often sur­prised to find ourselves fumbling in speech when we had felt that our idea was all ready to utter. So we compelled ourselves to write down what we meant, knowing that later this would be a big help when we started to talk. Then we read the writing aloud a couple of times just for practice. So far as we could see, it passed muster.

Now—and only now—did we dare walk to the telephone and take down the receiver. We slowly dialed Grey 246.

In a moment a voice said: "Good afternoon. XX Washing Machine Company."

We said: "I am calling about the ad you ran in the morning paper. Do I talk to you?"

The answer came: "No, I'll connect you with Mr. Wenders."

This is the dialogue that followed.

Mr. Wenders: Wenders speaking.

Miss Stacy: Mr. Wenders, I saw your advertisement for a demonstrator in the morning paper. I've had a good deal of experience and I believe I might qualify. This is Miss Stacy speaking.

Mr. Wenders: Yes, Miss Stacy.

Miss Stacy: I've just come from a demonstration of your new washer at Blanks Department Store. I made it a point to go over there before calling you. And all I can say is— you hardly need a demonstrator. It sells itself.

Mr. Wenders: You were at Blanks? How did it go over?

Miss Stacy: There was only one way it could go over. The women were just crazy about it. As soon as the demonstrator finished, they all crowded around her, bombarding her with questions.

Mr. Wenders: How many people were there, would you say?

Miss Stacy: When I saw the demonstration at ten-thirty there were from twenty to twenty-five women. And they all stayed right through. By the way, Mr. Wen­ders, I don't know what particular method you have of following up that interest. But I have a little idea that I think might be helpful.

Mr. Wenders: Well suppose you come in and have a talk with me? How about four o'clock this afternoon? All right, Miss Stacy?

Of course the talk had not been spectacular and was not meant to be. The point was that through­out the whole conversation the employer was made to see that he was dealing with an alert person­ality who would be on the lookout to step up his business every minute of the day, and who would have sense enough to bring to him anything in the way of an idea or a report that would have value. One outstanding feature of the telephone call was the fact that we had attended the demon­stration and had been able to make an intelligent report about it. That served a double purpose. It showed the washing machine man we were on our toes. It brought to him the news he most wanted to hear, that the demonstrations he was planning were getting over. The other feature of the call was mention of an idea that might be helpful. The idea was not a world-beater, but again it put the applicant in a special class. Employers do not want persons to get away from them whom they think will make a definite contribution to their business.

We had spoken clearly and distinctly. We knew that if Mr. Wenders had to interrupt three or four times with such remarks as: How was that? What

did you say? Talk a little louder, please. We seem to have a poor connection. Or Repeat that. I didn't quite get it—our chances would fly out of the win­dow. So we said what we had to say without hurry. And, of course, we donned for the occasion our very best go-to-meeting voice and sounded confi­dent, cheerful and capable as you please.

Once, when we felt ourself getting tense, we looked at our left hand and saw the fingers clutch­ing the receiver in a regular death grip. We loosened them, and made our whole body relax at the same time. The tightness left us then, and the conversation continued in a more comfortable vein. And the results were a complete success. We won an interview!

But that telephone call had one advantage that all calls cannot have. Before it was made, the exact nature of the job was known. Many times an ad­vertisement does not supply enough information for a person to tell that much. Then what is to be done?

Let us follow Mrs. Matthews, who spotted this tempting advertisement late one rainy afternoon:

SMALL INSTITUTION in suburbs desires kitchen manager who can cook, plan meals, buy food. Helper furnished. Congenial home for right person. Call Y-545.

The first two words of the advertisement stopped me. Small institution. But what kind was it? How could I offer my special qualifications for a job when I did not know what it was. It was not much to take the words right out of the ad and say that I was a good kitchen manager, good meal planner, good food buyer. Every applicant would probably say that.

Then I had a thought and I quickly dialed Y 543. When the voice on the other end of the wire, said Hello, I asked in firm tones: Is this The School Of Self-Help? The voice replied: No. This is the Church Home For The Aged. And I straightway hung up.

I knew then the job for which I was aiming and could go ahead with any preparation I liked.

In planning these telephone talks, there is really only one thing to remember: Make your message excite the interest and curiosity of the employer in you as an applicant. Be brief and businesslike and to the point, of course. But at the same time sound like good news from the front. Employers are onlv men and women after all, and nine times out of ten, they are going to want to see a person and interview the owner of a gay, enthusiastic and de­lightful voice.

We—who have been known to be un-gay, un-enthusiastic, un-delightful—have generally been able to achieve the right telephone voice by a very simple device. We say: "I have just found a twenty dollar bill. I am going right to the telephone and call the family about it!" Then we pick up the receiver to try for that job interview.

In the second type of telephone call, the prepara­tion is very meager. There was an advertisement. It was answered by letter. And now the applicant is waiting breathlessly for a telephone call. It is easy to sound very agreeable when the invitation is to come in and talk about a job.

But there are a few reefs, and we learned to avoid them. The first centers around the appli­cant's letter. There is no getting around it, a copy ought to be made. If three letters are sent out, asking about three jobs—then each letter should be copied, and the copy saved.

They should be kept right by the telephone. It is not too easy to remember all that was said in the letter. And many a time the conversation over the telephone takes up right where the letter left off. A call came for us one morning—this is by way of illustration—and almost the first words were: "I am another lark!"

The opened letter not three inches away was a faithful, helpful reminder. A chauffeur-secretary had been advertised for, and an extended trip men­tioned. We had said, in very small part: "like get­ting up with the lark—

With the greatest of fluency, we talked larks and got an interview. But the chances would certainly not have brightened if we had asked: "Larks? Larks? What number did you want?"

Aside from the copy of the letter that reposes by the telephone, so long as there is hope, there is just one more point. When the employer has reached the status of summoning you for a job interview, he may ask over the phone several very pertinent questions.

The one most asked concerns salary. How much do you expect? Some sort of an answer for that one has to be ready. As we often did not know what to expect, we skirted about in various ways. Some­times we said: What do you think it is worth? or What had you in mind to pay? or / would rather leave that to you. But we had to be prepared for that question.

Four other questions were put, but much less frequently. They were:

How old are you?

Where did you work last?

Why did you leave?

What were you paid?
 

Good answers can be given to all those questions with a little thought. But the time to think is be­fore the momentous telephone call.