Neither do we.

Waiting on hold for a live agent is a universally-frustrating experience. When you’re on hold, a single minute can feel like thirty. Call abandonment happens when a caller hangs up before they get connected to an agent. There are several reasons why call abandonment happens, but it’s typically due to long hold times or poor customer service.

A Consumer Reports issue showed that the top complaint among consumers was the inability to get a live agent. Voice Response Inc. showed more than 1 in 3 people will never call back after hanging up from being on hold for too long. Luckily, there are ways to make the time go by faster and even more efficiently. 

Communicate with your customer

Communication is key. One way to make hold time feel more tolerable is to tell callers how much of it they can expect. A caller is much more likely to lose patience and abandon the call if they don’t know approximately how long they’ll be waiting. This is why it’s important to be upfront about the Estimated Wait Time (EWT). It also limits the chance of a customer abandoning the call just as they were about to be put through. Giving callers an EWT helps increase customer satisfaction. It allows them to manage their time and determine whether or not they want to stay on hold.

Virtual queuing and callback options

There’s only so much you can do to reduce hold time. At some point, you have to start thinking about the customer experience and help make it more enjoyable. A virtual queuing system is an effective way to empower your customers to feel more in control of their call center experience. Rather than having to suffer through long wait times when your call center is experiencing high call volumes, your customer can choose to schedule a callback at a convenient time.

A virtual queuing system also allows your customers to hang up without losing their place in the queue. Your agent can then call them back when they become available. This simple tactic keeps customers in the queue, reducing call abandonment rates, all while easing their frustrations of having to wait on hold. This improves the customer’s perception of their support experience, and your company, as callers will feel like your company respects their time.

Keep customers engaged

There’s only so many times you can hear, “Your call is very important to us. Please stay on the line and an agent will be with you momentarily,” before you lose it and hang up the phone. Incorporating new media and content can enhance the experience for callers.

Good hold music and messaging – such as product updates, account information, changes in business hours, promotional advertisements, short informational announcements, or self-service options – are common approaches and a nice change of pace.

Good hold music may not keep customers on hold longer, but a bad choice of hold music or a bad recording will surely make customers want to hang up sooner. Select music and messaging for the emotional effect you want to project – qualities associated with your brand. Another option for your hold message is to use a system that allows announcements such as the caller’s place in line, and their estimated wait time.

Utilize real-time monitoring

Solutions like ours offer real-time monitoring for your call center. This means you can track call abandonment rate, call volume, online agents and more, right from your customized dashboard. To lessen your abandon rate, you have to understand it. When are customers hanging up, and why? By looking at real-time analytics such as how many people are on hold, and the current wait time, you can gain insight into your call center. For example, maybe you aren’t staffed appropriately for that day or time of day.

Real-time analytics can give you insight into your system that you never knew you needed. Studying these analytics can help you dig deeper into KPI’s to keep your call center flowing smoothly.

Make sure your staff are well-trained

Having adequate staffing is important. Every contact center should have enough agents to handle the ongoing workload. Agents are the ones who interact with callers directly, and they can make or break their experience. Agents need to be trained on how to handle long wait times, how to apologize and empathize with frustrated callers, and how to resolve issues quickly and effectively.
They should also be trained how to use your call center software and tools, such as EWT messages, callbacks, and transfers. By training your agents, you can ensure that they deliver consistent and professional service to your callers.

Well trained and well-equipped staff are much more productive. They can deal with customer queries quicker and increase positive customer experiences through their knowledge. Fast, efficient computers, up-to-date systems, and the use of VoIP phone systems mean your agents are always connected and calls can be conducted seamlessly. Streamlining the entire call process by training and equipping your staff allows them to get through calls and move onto the next customer more efficiently.

Ultimately, a high call abandonment rate is a sign that your customers aren’t receiving the level of service they expect. Bad customer service can lead to dissatisfied customers and a loss of business. By integrating some of the tips above, more customers can connect with your agents and enjoy an efficient and effective experience.

The post Reducing Call Abandonment: Tips & Techniques appeared first on CallHarbor.

At its core, VoIP is a sophisticated phone system that includes all the standard functionalities you’d expect – calling, call transfer, call forwarding, and voicemail. These basics are what most people know about. However, there’s much more beneath the surface that can significantly enhance your business operations.

The Untapped Potential of VoIP

VoIP systems can handle more. A lot more. In fact, the options are so robust that most companies only use about half of the functionality of their VoIP system. But every company uses a different half. In other words, your ideal VoIP setup will be unique to you, and tailored specifically to your business requirements

This leads us to the array of advanced and cutting-edge features that VoIP systems offer. When setting up your system, the goal isn’t to implement every available feature, but rather to find the perfect combination that aligns with your company’s unique needs.

1. A Super Helpful Robot Receptionist

One standout feature is the auto attendant. This virtual receptionist can handle call transfers, direct calls to voicemail, and provide basic support when your human receptionist is unavailable or after hours. The auto attendant ensures that customers are greeted by a friendly voice, maintaining professionalism and efficiency even when live staff aren’t available.

While it doesn’t replace the warmth of a human voice, it offers a superior alternative to a generic voicemail message.

2. Visual Voicemail for On-the-Go Professionals

Voicemail transcription, or visual voicemail, is every bit as useful as it sounds, and then some. It’s a game-changer for busy professionals.

Imagine being in a meeting and missing a call. Instead of waiting until the meeting ends, you can quickly scan the voicemail transcript on your phone. This allows you to immediately gauge the urgency of the message without disrupting your meeting. It’s a convenient and efficient way to stay on top of communications.

Talk about convenient.

3. Enhanced Training Through Call Recording & Coaching

VoIP systems also offer call recording and coaching features, which can transform your sales and customer service departments. Recording calls allows management to review interactions, identifying strengths and areas for improvement. This retrospective analysis is invaluable for training and development.

Real-time call coaching takes this a step further. A manager can listen in on calls and provide live feedback to the employee without the customer being aware. This can be particularly beneficial during challenging calls, where immediate guidance can help steer the conversation towards a positive outcome.

4. Take Your System on the Road

How’s this for high tech? One of the most innovative features of modern VoIP systems is Find Me, Follow Me call routing. This feature allows incoming calls to be directed to multiple phones sequentially, or at the same time. For example, a call might ring on your office phone first, then your cell phone/mobile app, and finally go to voicemail if unanswered. This ensures you remain reachable no matter where you are, giving you the freedom to move around without missing important calls.

5. Insightful Analytics & Practical Benefits

We close with a bit of practicality.

Modern VoIP systems track an array of data—usage, bandwidth, call duration, origin, destination, and cost. This comprehensive data collection provides valuable insights into your communication patterns and helps optimize efficiency. It also maintains a detailed record of all inbound and outbound calls, which can be crucial for verifying call history and ensuring accountability.

Customization: The Key to an Effective VoIP System

It’s important to remember that you don’t need every feature available. The beauty of VoIP lies in its flexibility. You can select the features that best meet your organization’s specific needs, creating a customized system that enhances productivity and efficiency without unnecessary complexity.

If you’re new to VoIP or if you’re considering an overhaul of your current system, it’s a good idea to call in the pros. Experts can help you navigate the myriad of options, ensuring you implement the features that will most benefit your business while avoiding those that won’t. Their guidance can streamline the setup process and maximize the return on your VoIP investment.

VoIP offers far more than just basic phone services. By exploring and implementing its advanced features, you can significantly improve your company’s communication infrastructure, making it more efficient, flexible, and tailored to your specific needs.

The post 5 Efficient Ways to Use Your VoIP System appeared first on CallHarbor.

Proper phone etiquette will help you maintain a strong connection with your customers and can help separate you from the rest of the market and encourage customers to call back again. 

Here are 5 business phone etiquette tips to help enhance your communication skills over the phone:

1. Answer the call within 3 rings.

There are so many communication alternatives available nowadays, such as email, chat, and online forms, so when a customer decides to pick up the phone and call your company, you know they’re looking for an immediate response. According to phone etiquette, three rings is the rule. Most people will hang up if they have to wait for more than three rings for you to pick up the phone, which is why three rings is the optimal wait-time.

Three rings is a universal number mainly for these two reasons:

1. You answer the call fast. Three rings mean you haven’t picked up the phone immediately, but at the same time, you didn’t let the customer wait. Basically, you answered the call just right!
2. You get enough time to prepare. Three rings give you enough time to notice the call, take a deep breath, and prepare, so when you take it, you can do your best.

2. Be calm and cheerful & smile when you talk.

You should always remain calm and cheerful on the phone, even when dealing with the most difficult customer. You have to remember that the person is calling for a reason. If they’re calling for customer support, they may have questions, concerns, or frustrations that need to be addressed. By remaining calm and cheerful, you can diffuse the situation and even end up brightening your customer’s day. It is also important to smile while you speak. You may think that smiling while speaking on the phone isn’t going to make a difference, since the person on the other end of the line can’t see you, but you’d be wrong. The tone of the human voice changes when smiling. It is readily perceivable to the caller and it sets the tone for the rest of the call. It’s been proven that a smile puts the caller at ease. 

3. Actively listen, and take notes.

It’s important that you actively listen to your customers throughout a conversation. Actively listening means hearing everything they have to say and basing your answers off of their comments, rather than giving a generic response. This shows customers that you’re present and are empathetic to their inconveniences. Being a good listener makes customers feel cared about and respected, which makes them loyal to your brand. If you take the time to actively listen to each individual customer, you’ll build real personal connections and make a true difference. It’s also essential to take notes during calls. Keeping a record of the conversation by taking notes can ensure that you remember and respond to all the customer’s concerns effectively. Being proactive during the call ensures that you won’t miss any important information, and will help you understand customers’ issues, allowing you to provide a better service.

4. Don’t interrupt.

Don’t ever interrupt your customer at any period of the conversation. It’s not only rude, but also a quick way to lose a customer. No matter how angry, annoying or even provoking a customer is, you should stay calm and let them finish talking, since listening to the customer’s story is also beneficial from a psychological point of view as the customer feels taken care of when you listen carefully and let them speak. Listen carefully to complaints and show the customer that you find their concerns important.

5. Ask permission to put a caller on hold.

No matter how you try to avoid it, there will be times when you’ll need to place a caller on hold; however, it’s important that you ask the caller first. For example, you can say, “will you please hold while I verify that information for you?” A simple request will make the caller more willing to wait. If the hold takes longer than anticipated, check back with the caller periodically so they don’t feel like they’ve been abandoned. Upon returning, thank your caller again for their patience.

Proper telephone etiquette in the workplace is crucial and can be the ultimate key to gain a positive impression from customers and individuals you are talking with. Answering calls promptly and politely is an absolute must if you want your business to succeed, so make that call the best it can be, and it may create a loyal, lifetime customer.

Sources:

https://blog.hubspot.com/service/phone-etiquette

https://www.ringcentral.com/us/en/blog/business-phone-etiquette/

The post 5 Ways to Improve Business Phone Etiquette appeared first on CallHarbor.

Communicate with your customer

Communication is key. One way to make hold time feel more tolerable is to tell callers how much of it they can expect. A caller is much more likely to lose patience and abandon the call if they don’t know approximately how long they’ll be waiting, which is why it’s important to be upfront about the Estimated Wait Time (EWT). It also limits the chance of a customer abandoning the call just as they were about to be put through. Giving callers an EWT helps increase customer satisfaction as it allows them to manage their time and determine whether or not they want to stay on hold. 

Virtual queuing and callback options

There’s only so much you can do to reduce hold time. At some point, you have to start thinking about the customer experience and help make it more enjoyable, or at least not as frustrating. A virtual queuing system is an effective way to empower your customers to feel more in control of their call center experience. A virtual queuing system also allows your customers to hang up without losing their place in the queue. Your agent can then call them back when they become available. This simple tactic keeps customers in the queue, reducing call abandonment rates, all while easing their frustrations of having to wait on hold. Rather than having to suffer through long wait times when your call center is experiencing high call volumes, your customer can choose to schedule a callback at a convenient time. This improves the customer’s perception of their support experience, and your company, as callers will feel like your company respects their time.

Keep customers engaged

There’s only so many times you can hear, “Your call is very important to us. Please stay on the line and an agent will be with you momentarily,” before you lose it and hang up the phone. Incorporating new media and content can enhance the experience for callers. Good hold music and messaging – such as product updates, account information, changes in business hours, promotional advertisements, short informational announcements, or self-service options, are common approaches and a nice change of pace. Good hold music may not keep customers on hold longer, but a bad choice of hold music or a bad recording will surely make customers want to hang up sooner. Select music for the emotional effect you want to project – music that has qualities associated with your brand.

Make sure your staff are well-trained

Having adequate staffing is important. Every contact center should have enough agents to handle the ongoing workload. Well trained and well-equipped staff are much more productive, as they can deal with customer queries quicker and increase positive customer experiences through their knowledge. Fast, efficient computers, up-to-date systems, and the use of VoIP phone systems mean your agents are always connected and calls can be conducted seamlessly. Streamlining the entire call process by training and equipping your staff allows them to get through calls and move onto the next customer more efficiently.

Ultimately, a high rate of abandoned calls is a sign that your customers aren’t receiving the level of service they expect. Bad customer service can lead to dissatisfied customers and a loss of business. By integrating some of the tips above, more customers can be connected with your agents and enjoy an efficient and effective experience.

Sources:

https://tollfreeforwarding.com/blog/how-to-reduce-abandoned-calls-in-call-centers/ 
https://www.avoxi.com/blog/6-tricks-for-reducing-abandoned-calls-in-your-call-center/

The post Tips to Prevent Call Abandonment appeared first on CallHarbor.

Step 1: Define your customers’ wants and needs

Bridging the gap between your organization’s mission statement and what your customers want is a good place to start brainstorming what your customer service philosophy should encompass. Start with what you promise or guarantee as a company. Then, revisit your organization’s mission and vision statements to see the values your product is built on.

First, dive in with some questions about your company and the role that support plays in it.

1. What is the purpose of your company?
2. What’s the role of customer support?
3. Is your goal to delight customers or reduce effort?
4. What principles do you expect your support team to follow? (1)

Talk to current users to see how they feel. When you start the conversation, make sure you ask which channels they use to contact your company. Setting up customer service automation through surveys, chatbots, and emails to gather insight is also a good idea.

Step 2: List your support team’s values

Next, you’ll want to dig in even more and list the values that guide your support team. One good question to start out with is, “What do you want our customers to think of when they think of our service experience?“

Compile a list of all the values that come up. Here’s a quick list of some common support values you can use:

• Respect
• Honesty
• Integrity
• Quality
• Autonomy
• Listening
• Communicating

Don’t hold back during your brainstorming session; having a super long list is ok! Afterwards, try to narrow it down to five or six essential ones so your support values remain focused and memorable. This is a key point in the process of creating a great customer service philosophy, so make sure you give it your all.

Step 3: Combine everything into a vision statement

Now that you’re in a customer-centric mindset, the next step is to summarize your team values, company mission, and customer needs into a vision statement. Let’s start with a basic definition. A customer service vision is a statement that clearly defines the type of customer service employees are expected to provide. (2)

The vision statement can run anywhere from a few words to a complete sentence. If you’re struggling to write one, or keep ending up with one that sounds generic, run it through these three criteria:

1. Is it easy to understand and act on? Many vision statements end up sounding somewhat generic. Ask how you can make it more specific and connected to your ideal customer.
2. Does it describe the type of service you provide? Another common mistake is losing sight of the customer and just rewriting your organization’s vision. Try to put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Go through their journey and see how your vision statement works in reality.
3. Does it reflect who you are now and who you aspire to be in the future? Any vision needs to have include a future aspect. Try to imagine the results you’re achieving on a day when everything goes right. (1)

The final part of this step is to be honest about what your customers need and what you’re able to provide. You can’t promise 24/7 support if you have a small team and only offer weekday phone support. Only guarantee what you can truly deliver.

Once you’re ready, show your support vision statement to a few key people in the company and see how they react. A customer service philosophy relies on gut reaction, so make sure you’re gauging reactions clearly. If it doesn’t get the best response from someone, it might need more work.

Step 4: Make your customer philosophy actionable

Vision and values are just words on paper until you put them into action. As you create your customer service philosophy, apply these best practices:

• Focus on consistency. Customers want consistency. This means implementing your values across channels while maintaining a personalized experience.
• Define your key philosophy. Teams often mistake prioritizing support metrics that seem important but don’t connect to their philosophy. Think hard about which metrics truly connect to your values and define them.
• Choose the right technology to empower your philosophy. Your vision and values don’t just apply to enterprise communications. If ‘customer autonomy’ is one of your values, give them self-service resources like a knowledge base or chatbots. If you’re more focused on personalized support, look at omnichannel contact centers, cloud call centers, and customer journey maps. (1)

Connected teams live out a great customer service philosophy

Aligning your company behind a core customer support philosophy takes more than sending out a mass email blast with a list of values. A customer support philosophy is much more impactful when integrated with all aspects of your business. Take a look at these examples of Great Customer Service Philosophy From Top Companies to gather more inspiration and start building your customer service philosophy today!

Sources:

(1) https://www.nextiva.com/blog/customer-service-philosophy.html

(2) https://www.toistersolutions.com/blog/2016/4/29/

(3) https://thecxlead.com/topics/customer-service-philosophy-examples/

The post How to Create a Valuable Customer Service Philosophy appeared first on CallHarbor.

A satisfied customer becomes a repeat customer, and will most likely recommend your business to others; while an unhappy customer will not. In fact, they may share their unpleasant experience with potential customers, tarnishing your company’s reputation and brand image. Improving customer response time can improve customer service efficiency, close more sales opportunities, and boost customer loyalty. 

Customer satisfaction is now the biggest differentiator of brands, replacing price and product quality. CMO council found that the most important attribute of a good customer experience, according to the customers’ themselves, is a fast response time.

For this reason, businesses should really consider how they can deliver a superior level of customer service and stand out from their competitors. Here are 5 ways you can reduce customer service response times and better serve your clients: 

1. Implement customer service software

Customer service software, also known as help desk software, dominated the market and accounted for a revenue share of over 20% in 2021. Customer service software is one of the best investments you can make to improve your customer service. Support software helps you streamline your team’s workflows and organize incoming customer requests by assigning them to designated customer service agents.

There are various helpdesk solutions available that allow you to put all your customer queries, whether they be via phone, email, social media, or messaging, into one easy-to-use dashboard. This can help your business’s customer service team resolve customers’ issues efficiently and effectively. With every inquiry organized, your team will be able to process a greater volume of customer queries in a shorter amount of time. Support software also lets you track the status of customer requests and customize different kinds of reports to monitor your team members’ performance and support quality.

2. Use email autoresponders

No matter what business or industry you’re in, your customers just want to be heard and get a simple, fast response. Less than 10% of companies use autoresponders, but this simple technology can be used to let a customer know you have received their email and what they should expect to happen next. 

Automated responses can be used in three main ways:

• An immediate automated email for every inquiry received
• Certain types of common inquiries receive an automated response
• An automated email is used for messages received out of business hours

Automated responses may seem impersonal, but that prompt acknowledgement will let customers know that they and their questions and/or concerns matter and that they’re being taken seriously. Automatic response is a excellent way to: 

• Thank them for their message 
• Remind the sender of the opening hours of your customer service department and that it may take several hours until their email is seen by someone
• Set expectations up front and Inform the customer of your average response times
• Provide links to FAQs and other self service tools that they might not have been able to find on your company website

3. Use time-based email alerts  

Every business focused on its customer service understands the importance of optimizing their response time. As much as a company would love to respond to every email as quickly as possible, there are times when the lag in resolution time is out of their control. For example, an agent may be waiting on information they need from the customer to be able to resolve their inquiry. In this situation, it’s important to flag your customer emails for a timed follow-up so that they aren’t left behind and forgotten.

Using time-based alerts is best because your team will always be notified within a set period to either work through the query (if the customer has provided the requested information) or they’ll be notified to follow up with the customer to obtain the necessary information. Either way, time-based alerts make sure that nothing is dropped. Although team members can create manual alerts, it’s much more effective to automate this using customer service software, most of which have handy features that can automatically tag new inquiries with a timer.

4. Use templates and text shortcuts

There are some common questions that are repeatedly asked by many customers. Sometimes, these questions are rather simple and don’t require a lot of hands-on responses. Such frequently asked questions can be handled quickly and efficiently by making use of templates that contain prepared answers. Rather than drafting a new email for each and every customer inquiry, your support team should have access to a number of email templates or how-to guides covering the most commonly asked questions.

Email templates that provide the right information can be used by agents to respond to customers quickly, without having to individually type out the same answer over and over again. This allows them to handle more inquiries in the same amount of time, reducing the average response time.

5. Categorize and prioritize emails you receive 

Categorizing and prioritizing emails is one of the best ways for a business to reduce customer support response time. Categorizing emails can help you keep track of your customers’ needs. Customer support agents should handle an email based on its subject and then assign it to a specific category. Different categories represent different levels of priority. Categorizing the emails you receive based on subject matter and complexity helps your support team be more productive. They’ll know which ones to prioritize and will be able to work within an organized framework. Some email categories include: 

• Technical issues
• General questions
• Invoices
• Refunding
• Payments
• Spam

You can also categorize emails according to the type of customer: 

• Lead
• Customer
• Old customer

Improving customer response times will not only improve your customers’ overall experience, but it can also enhance your brand’s reputation, and improve efficiencies throughout your entire company. Better customer response time means better business. 

SOURCES:

https://emailtree.ai/blog/7-ways-to-reduce-customer-service-response-times-in-2021/
https://www.edesk.com/blog/reduce-customer-response-times/
https://www.simplr.ai/blog/how-to-drastically-improve-customer-service-response-times 

The post 5 Tips to Reduce Customer Response Time appeared first on CallHarbor.

What Is First Call Resolution?

First Call Resolution is a term used mostly in call and contact centers. It measures the number of customer support queries successfully resolved the first time around. Organizations commonly use it as a metric alongside Average Handling Time (AHT). Together, these metrics can be very valuable in determining the performance of contact center staff. “FCR is often a favored metric due to the statistical link between follow-up calls and customer dissatisfaction rates,” (My Customer). You can use this number to predict how satisfied/dissatisfied your customers are. It gives you insight on what you need to focus on, and what some of your agents may need more training on.

Strategies for First Call Resolution

Improving your team’s first call resolution could mean training your staff to understand a few specific best practices. This will help in communicating clearly with the customers that are calling in.

Some key points are:

Make sure to understand the needs of the customer. If you are unclear of what the customer needs and why they are calling, you won’t be able to help them. Make sure to take the time to really understand what their needs are.

Ask qualifying and clarifying questions. This goes hand in hand with the above point. By asking qualifying and clarifying questions to the caller, you’ll be able to really dial into their needs. This will make sure they are serviced correctly and everything is resolved.

Keep the customer informed throughout the call. Let them know as you are doing things, or making notes, so that they know when action is being taken. This will make them feel more comfortable about their problem being solved.

Don’t commit to something if you’re not sure you can deliver. There is nothing worse than someone on a sales or support line giving a customer promises that they cannot deliver on. Be open and honest with your customers. If you can do it, let them know that. If you’re not sure, be truthful in that as well. They would rather have you get back to them after you figure out if you can give them something. No one wants to be expecting something that will never happen.

Follow through on any promises that you make. Make sure your team is following through with any promises they have made. Sending a follow up email with all of the things you will be doing is a great way for both parties to have a little visual list of what needs to be done.

First Call Resolution Tips

Company’s should include all of the above key points in training for any employee that answers phones. They are great starters for customer service, no matter what industry your organization is in. If you’ve noticed that your first call resolution rate is lower than you would like it to be, your first step should be to investigate the reasons why people are calling back and figure out what’s going wrong during that first call. Look at calls to see if there is a specific category that is attracting repeat calls. Utilizing call recording can be extremely useful in tracking your progress when it comes to FCR and customer service. Check out our blog article about why your organization should utilize call recording here.

With the right analytics tools, you can easily identify the areas where your first call resolution rate is being pulled down. You can then invest in training your customer service agents, improving call screening and routing, and upgrading your CRM tools to allow your staff to do a better job.

The post First Call Resolution & Getting It Right appeared first on CallHarbor.

Non-verbal communication increases understanding of messages. Especially in the workplace, a message’s success depends on how effectively you are able to get it through. Facial expressions, gestures, body postures and eye contact are all types of non-verbal communication that can affect the way your message comes across. It helps to complement or contradict statements, and can create a great impact. According to research, between 65% and 80% of our communication with others is non-verbal.

Maintain Eye Contact

Maintain eye contact when speaking to others, or when others are speaking to you. In a meeting, maintain eye contact to show the other party that you are interested and engaged. While giving a presentation, maintaining eye contact with the audience shows confidence, and also helps then stay engaged. Making direct eye contact provides others with the comfort needed to communicate with you in return. Be mindful, though, not to turn your attempts at eye contact into an unrelenting stare; moderation is the key.

Video meetings can make keeping eye contact strange. You don’t need to constantly be staring right into the camera, just make sure to pay attention to your screen. Wandering eyes can be distracting, and give the impression of carelessness.

Use Facial Expressions

Your facial expressions are the quickest way to convey your emotions. Regardless of language, facial expressions are understood by everyone. They convey the same message globally, for the most part. Your face can display many emotions, really heightening your nonverbal communication. When a smile is not called for, be aware of your expression and react accordingly. A look of seriousness when your work is being critiqued or a sympathetic response to someone’s expression of difficulties can go a long way to conveying your engagement with the situation.

Mind Your Posture

Pay attention to your posture, because it can be a telling signal. If you sit with bad posture, you give off the impression that you are unengaged and uninterested. Posture can provide a significant amount of important information through nonverbal communication. Psychological studies have demonstrated the effects of body posture on emotions. If you use good, confident posture, you will feel better and more confident. If you have a strong, awake posture, you will feel more awake and in tune with the speaker.

Be Considerate of Personal Space

Pay attention to your proximity to others. Different cultures view proximity in various ways, so take notice if the person you’re communicating with is uncomfortable. This could mean that you are standing too close, and should create some distance between the two of you. The amount of physical space given can convey many emotions.

Even in video conferencing, your awareness of proximity is important. Don’t get too up close and personal to the camera, or people may feel put off.

Be Aware of Your Tone/Sounds

The tone of voice, and the sounds and signals you make might be the most important non-verbal communication cue. Your tone of voice and the sounds you make can communicate your thoughts to others without your even speaking. If you receive directions from a manager and immediately grunt, you are showing your manager that you do not agree with what he said. Your tone or sounds can inform people of your anger, frustration or sarcasm. Avoid sighing repetitively or speaking in a high-pitched voice. Speak softly and calmly.

Check out this infographic about the importance of nonverbal communication for more tips: The Importance of Nonverbal Communication

The post 5 Ways to Improve Your Non-Verbal Communication appeared first on CallHarbor.

An effective conference call can allow teams to do more in less time and with fewer resources (time, energy, and money) wasted. Let take a look at 8 specific tips for leading an effective conference call, allowing you to get more done when needed.

Before The Call

1. Have an agenda

An easy way to kickstart the conversation, stay organized, and keep everyone on track is to offer an agenda. Sending the agenda ahead of time will give the participants a good idea of the timeline and flow of the conference call. By sending it early, you also give participants the opportunity to add new items onto the agenda if they have something important to add. You can control the meeting better and avoid wasting time by having an agenda.

2. Understand your software/hardware

Making sure that you fully understand the software and hardware that you will be using during your conference call is essential. Learn where all the buttons are located ahead of time. Even hopping onto a “test conference” before the actual call can be helpful, especially if you are utilizing video features.

3. Decide the parameters

In addition to #2, you should also set up and decide the parameters ahead of time. Things can get awkward if some people are sharing video and some aren’t. Make in known what you want from your participants, how you want audio to be shared, and what the schedule looks like. If it’s a larger call covering multiple topics, decide how you want specific people to be involved, or if you will need scree sharing materials and presentations.

4. Join ahead of the set time

As the leader of the conference call, you should always be the first one on. Having things set up and organized before people start joining is crucial. No one wants to be waiting around after the start time for you to be uploading your presentation or figuring out how to share your screen. Be smart, and be prepared! Engage in some small talk as participants start joining, and then wait until everyone is on for the formal introduction and start.

During The Call

5. State agenda & make introductions

Start the meeting by stating the agenda and making introductions. Share your screen with the agenda up if it is a video call, or ask everyone to pull it up and follow along if it is a phone call. Make introductions and take a roll call so everyone knows who else is on the call if that is something important. This can be skipped if it is a regular meeting with the same participants as always, or if it is a larger conference and the participants don’t need to know introductions for the other participants.

6. Refer to people by name

If it is a both way conference call where people will be asking questions and engaging in conversation, be sure to refer to people by name so everyone is aware of who is asking questions or engaging in specific conversations. This will help everyone feel more involved, and keep things organized and less confusing.

7. Make time checks throughout the conference call

If you’re the one who sent out an agenda, people are going to be expecting you to stick to it. Make sure you keep an eye on the time throughout the conference call to avoid messy time limits, or running out of time at the end. If you announce the time while you are moving from topic to topic it will keep things extra organized and also give people a little reminder of where you are at in the meeting.

8. Conclude properly

When it is time for the meeting to conclude, make the conclusion good. Wrap things up, summarize anything that people may need to touch back on, and hand out responsibility if necessary. If this is a recurring conference call, remind all of the participants on when the next meeting date and time is.

Leading a conference call can seem like a scary position to be in, but if you come prepared, have an organized agenda, and feel comfortable with the calling software ahead of time, everything else will fall into place. Check out a related article on why conference calls are pushing business travel out of the spotlight: Using Video Conferencing Instead of Business Travel.

The post 8 Tips for Leading an Effective Conference Call appeared first on CallHarbor.

Some of the most common things that cause the post-lunch energy dip while working include the temperature of your workspace, what you ate for lunch, access to sunlight and/or windowed areas, and your hydration level. Moderating these specific things will help you boost energy levels, feel better, and also positively affect your general health. Let’s dive into 10 ways to avoid that dreadful post-lunch energy dip while working, so that you can have long lasting productive energy throughout your workday.

Stay hydrated

You’ve heard it often in the past few years, people putting an importance on staying hydrated throughout the day. The thing is, it really works. Keep a large water bottle by your desk to remind yourself to take frequent sips. Buy a fun themed or decorated reusable bottle to make it more like an excited accessory than just a water bottle. Dehydration is one of the leading causes of fatigue.

“Health experts commonly recommend eight 8-ounce glasses, which equals about 2 liters, or half a gallon a day. This is called the 8×8 rule and is very easy to remember. However, some experts believe that you need to sip on water constantly throughout the day, even when you’re not thirsty. As with most things, this depends on the individual. Many factors (both internal and external) ultimately affect how much water you need,” (healthline).

Go green

As little as 5 minutes in or near nature or greenery can improve your mood and increase oxygenation to the brain. Numerous experimental psychology studies have linked exposure to nature with increased energy and heightened sense of well-being. “Nature is not only nice to have, but it’s a have-to-have for physical health and cognitive functioning,” (Yale). These studies have shown that time in nature is an antidote for stress: It can lower blood pressure and stress hormone levels, reduce nervous system arousal, enhance immune system function, increase self-esteem, reduce anxiety, and improve mood. Attention Deficit Disorder and aggression lessen in natural environments, which also help speed the rate of healing.

Develop good eating habits

Waking up just slightly earlier and giving yourself to eat a good breakfast can make the world of a difference. A protein-rich breakfast can help to regulate your energy levels, so you don’t experience a crash. Cutting carbs and heading towards foods such as salmon, kale, avocado, bananas, and nuts will also help you with an energy boost, according to dieticians.

Where energy is the issue, it’s better to eat small meals & snacks every few hours than three large meals a day. This approach can reduce your perception of fatigue because your brain, which has very few energy reserves of its own, needs a steady supply of nutrients. Some people begin feeling sluggish after just a few hours without food. But it doesn’t take much to feed your brain. A piece of fruit or a few nuts is adequate. Researchers have observed that the circadian rhythms of people who eat a lot at lunch typically show a more pronounced afternoon slump. The reasons for this are unclear, but it may reflect the increase in blood sugar after eating, which is followed by a slump in energy later. (Harvard)

Break a sweat

Moving your body throughout the week will do wonders for your energy levels, your physical health, and your mental health. Researchers at the University of Georgia found that sedentary, otherwise healthy adults who engaged in as little as 20 minutes of low-to-moderate aerobic exercise, only three days a week for six consecutive weeks, reported an increase in energy levels and feeling less fatigued. “If a sedentary individual begins an exercise program it will enhance the blood flow carrying oxygen and nutrients to muscle tissue improving their ability to produce more energy,” (Ace Fitness).

Whether it’s doing morning yoga before work, taking a nice walk on your lunch break, or doing an evening workout session, moving your body and getting your blood pumping will do your body and your energy level wonders.

Open the blinds

Natural light is extremely important to people’s mental and physical health. Not getting enough sunlight negatively influences their performance and well-being, and vastly contributes to chronic fatigue. Exposure to sunlight, particularly in the morning, helps you wake up faster, and researchers have found that early in the day sunlight exposure can also regulate hormones. Irregular hormones can cause fatigue, so doing small things to regulate them can combat that. Being exposed to natural light will have a positive impact on your energy levels and, as a result, increase your productivity.

Monitor your workload

Stress is a huge contributor to fatigue. Although it’s hard to specifically monitor your workload, you can try to break it down and make it easier for you to digest, and try to combat that fatigue inducing stress. In the morning, take a few minutes to look to look at your workload. Make a manageable to-do list for your first half of the day, and focus on only that, so not to become overwhelmed and stressed. After lunch, sit down and write another to-do list for the second half of your day. Breaking your list up into two halves will make it feel much more manageable, and hopefully you will feel less stressed and more ready to take on all of your tasks.

Organize or rearrange your desk area

Taking 10 minutes to organize or rearrange your desk a little bit can make the world of a difference. Feeling stuck in the same area, or in a cluttered environment can weigh down on your energy level. Cluttered desks can lead to an overwhelmed or anxious feeling, which can negatively impact your stamina. You’ll feel more comfortable in your space, and feel accomplished from completing that task, and your energy will be positively affected by both of those things. When you’re surrounded by clutter, your mind often feels overstimulated. Making decisions requires more energy, and it’s easy to feel constantly distracted. By having a clean area, you’ll be able to focus and make decisions more quickly and easily, which will also save yourself some energy.

Take a stand

In recent years, standing desks have been all the rage… and for a good reason! Standing desks are great for many reasons. A surprising benefit of standing desks is an increase in daily energy levels. Researchers found that those using standing desks for an extended period reported higher energy levels than those who sat at their desks all day. Other research has found links between sedentary lifestyles – like sitting all day – and depression. Standing at your desk could help lift your mood along with your energy levels. (Gonstead Chiropractic)

Standing increases circulation, which is directly correlated to energy levels, and also keeps you up and alert.

Practice mindful breathing

Mindful, deep breathing exercises will do wonders for your energy levels and mental health. When you take a deep, belly breath, your stomach expands outward, the lower ribs expand sideways, causing your diaphragm to contract. This helps to fill every part of your lungs with oxygen. It’s this volume of oxygen that helps change how you feel. It ramps up blood flow and increases oxygenation leading to more energy. On the calming side, it stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system slowing your heart rate and controlling the release of stress hormones. (Shine App)

All it takes is literally 1 minute of breathing exercises to completely turn around your blood oxygen level and boost your energy.

Take a break

We suggest taking two types of breaks throughout the day. The first is a more frequent, quick break, called the 20/20 rule. Screen fatigue is real, and if you are working at a computer all day, it will negatively impact your eyes and make you feel much more fatigued. Doctors recommend taking a 20 second micro-breaks every 20 minutes throughout your day to close your eyes and give yourself a break from the glare of your computer, giving your eyes a chance to rest. This can have a big impact on your energy levels.

Aside from these micro-breaks, it’s also very important to get up periodically through your day, walk around, stretch, and reset your posture and mindset. Taking breaks during the day isn’t just good for your productivity or combating fatigue—it’s instinctual. Sleep researcher Nathaniel Kleitman found that the human body follows a rest-activity cycle every 90-120 minutes. At night, that cycle takes you through the different stages of sleep. During the day, it manages your energy and alertness levels. (RescueTime)

The post 10 Ways to Avoid the Post-Lunch Energy Dip at Work appeared first on CallHarbor.