Category Archives: Cell Phone Etiquette

Texting in Business: the New Phone and the New Email

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Just a few short years ago would you have thought that texting in business would be a widely-accepted staple of  communication? Probably not, but then a decade ago, you would not have believed that email would be flooding your inbox. Thanks to texting, those overflowing inboxes are no longer consuming the better part of our day. Texting has become the new email and the new phone call.

Before we get into the subject of why, when and how to text, be assured that I am not suggesting that you abandon all other forms of communication in business. Hopefully, nothing will supplant real conversation over the phone or meeting face-to-face.

Why should you consider texting in business?

  1. Your customers prefer texting. Regardless of your preferred means of communication, it’s the customer who chooses. Because of all those spam calls, some people, even in business, do not answer their phones. Others won’t take your call because they don’t want to get involved in a lengthy phone conversation.
  2. Texting has a higher open and response rate. Studies show that people will open a text message while they ignore an email. And they are more likely to respond. Now that’s good business.
  3. Texting is a time– It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that texting is faster than making a phone call or sending an email.
  4. Texting is versatile. You can send out reminders, make appointments, schedule meetings and announce business updates. It’s a short sweet marketing toll. 

Before you embrace texting with all of its advantages, establish guidelines and set standards for yourself and your business. If you don’t, you can quickly spoil a business relationship.

What are the etiquette rules for texting in business?  

  1. Avoid abbreviations and acronyms unless your customer uses them. Don’t assume that everyone knows what you know or knows what you mean.
  2. Text at appropriate times. Is it after hours? Are you likely to be an intrusion?
  3. Use correct spelling. Yes, even in texting.
  4. Limit your number of texts you send. A nuisance will quickly lose credibility.
  5. Include your business name in each message. Again, make no assumptions.
  6. Consider your “why” for sending the message. Your customers need to know what you expect them to do. Do you have a “call to action” or an obvious reason for sending that text? Be clear about your purpose and give instructions for responding.
  7. Proof your text. Treat it just as would your email. Check your grammar, spelling, readability and especially the autocorrect. Texting makes assumptions. If you don’t double-check, it will replace what you wrote with some bizarre and unintended words.
  8. Get your customers’ permission before texting them. There are laws that govern texting in business. Know what they are. Ask your attorney or refer to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Texting is here to stay. People like it. Why? They like it because it is private. They like it because it leaves a record of conversations. They like it because it’s polite and respectful of others and acknowledges their busy lives.

Lydia Ramsey is a Savannah-based business etiquette expert, keynote speaker, trainer and author. Contact her at 912-604-0080 or visit her website: LydiaRamsey.com. Find out how her presentations, workshops and resources can help you and your employees add the polish that builds profits.

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Developing New Habits to Mind Your Manners

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January is typically the month when most people think about making resolutions or setting goals for the New Year. With all good intentions, resolutions soon go by the wayside, and we continue in our old ways. By now yours are probably nothing more than a distant memory.

Why not take a new approach?  Instead of making resolutions or setting goals, consider developing new habits. Of course, I am thinking of developing new habits that fall in the realm of civility—that which is sorely missing in today’s world.

In the seventh annual Civility in America poll conducted by Weber Shandwick and Powell Tate with KRC Research, a record high number—69  percent—of  Americans believe that the U.S. has a major civility problem. My guess is that you would agree. Obviously the problem is overwhelming and putting a simple band aid on the issue won’t fix it. However, if you look at your own behaviors, I bet there are more than a few habits you could change or new ones you could develop that would help at least your world become a more civilized place.

Check my list for developing new habits and see which ones might apply to you.

  1. Cell phone Addiction. Do you have to have your cell phone with you at all times and in all places? Do you feel naked or lost without it? Does it need to be turned on or visible wherever you are? Do you answer every call, text or email that comes in no matter where you are? If you can say “yes” to any or all of those questions, consider developing a new habit. Keep your phone off and out of sight in the company of others. When you have your phone on or carefully place it where you can keep an eye on it, you are sending a message that the people in your presence are not as important as someone who might be about to call, text or send you an email.
  2. Eating with no regard for manners. Do you talk with food in your mouth? Chew with your mouth open? Wave your utensils in the air to make a point? Use your napkin to blow your nose? Eat with your elbows on the table? If so, your new habit might be paying attention to your table manners and remembering what your mother taught you. If you weren’t listening or have simply forgotten, there are resources that can help you develop good habits when dining with others. May I recommend an email or hard copy of my own Lydia Ramsey’s Little Book of Table Manners – 85 Tips for Dining for Success?
  3. Failing to reply to invitations. When an invitation to an event arrives, get into the habit of checking your calendar immediately and sending your response. Your host needs to know how many people to plan for so failing to reply is beyond thoughtless.
  4. Omitting the words “please”, “thank you”, “excuse me” and “you’re welcome” from your vocabulary. Getting in the habit of using those simple words can make a big difference in your interaction with others. Their use identifies you as a considerate person. And please, please, please try to remember that “No problem” is not the proper response to “thank you”. The correct reply is “you are welcome”.
  5. Wearing dirty, scuffed or unpolished shoes. If you think that others don’t notice your shoes, you are wrong. There are indeed people who notice shoes first thing. I call them “the shoe people.” When these people look at your feet, they are not checking to see if you are wearing the latest fashion, they are noticing the condition of your shoes and making a judgment about you. If you don’t pay attention to your shoes, perhaps you don’t pay attention to other details. This is not the message you want to send in business. If you are not in the habit of checking the condition of your shoes, it is time to start.

If you are not in the habit of concealing your cell phone, minding your table manners, replying to invitations, using polite terms or taking care of your shoes, you just might find that people are not in the habit of doing business with you.

Forget making those annual resolutions and start think instead of developing habits that will grow your business and add to your bottom line.

Photo from Savanah magazine

Lydia Ramsey is a business etiquette expert, sought-after speaker, trainer, author and newspaper columnist who is on a mission to stamp out rudeness and enhance professional conduct in the workplace. She is the author of Manners That Sell – Adding the Polish That Builds Profits and Lydia Ramsey’s Little Book of Table Manners.

Contact her at 912-604-0080 or visit her website at LydiaRamsey.com to leave a comment, ask a question or learn more about her programs and products for businesses, corporations, associations, colleges and universities. She is always ready to talk or travel.

 

 

 

 

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Communicating with Your Clients

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Imagine this: you’ve worked for hours putting together the proposal that your prospective client requested and are ready to send it. You choose what you believe to be the most efficient way to communicate—you e-mail the document. You expect that your prospect is checking e-mail regularly and will be contacting you within a few hours to seal the deal. You have a mental picture of yourself signing the contract and depositing a nice check into your account.

Cubicle series: the MultitaskerWhat you don’t know is that your prospect doesn’t check e-mail frequently. You failed to find out what form of communication he prefers and how he wanted to receive your response. Sadly for you, your competitor is on the ball and knows. By the time your e-mail proposal is opened and read, the deal is done, but not with you.

Maybe you called the prospect, who was out of the office at the time, so you left the information on voice mail and waited all day for a response. As it turns out, this person only checks voice mail at the end of the day and returns his calls in the morning. Again, your competition knew this and sent an email instead.

We are absolutely overwhelmed with ways to transmit information. Current studies indicate that e-mail is the business communication tool of choice. However, many people still prefer the telephone, the office staple since Alexander Graham Bell first spoke to Mr. Watson from the other room. Now that phones are mobile, no one is ever far from their phone.

Phones are so “smart” today that they can do everything that you used to have a landline, a computer and a fax machine for. Their latest trick is texting. Skip email. Forget calling and just send a cryptic text message. There is an entire segment of the population that does not know any other way to communicate than to text. After all, it is convenient. You can text anytime, anywhere to almost anybody. The business person who doesn’t text is considered to be something akin to the dinosaur.

We all have our preferred means of communication. When communicating with your clients, learn their preferences. It’s not just a courtesy, it’s good business. It’s not about you; it’s about your client. How can you tell what your client prefers? Ask. It’s as simple as that.

Here’s to successfully communicating with your clients!

Lydia

Lydia Ramsey

If you have any questions about the etiquette of communication in business, please contact me. I am available to you however you wish to communicate.

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What are Those Rules of Cell Phone Courtesy Again?

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July is national cell phone courtesy month, founded in 2002. Over the past 11 years, much has been written and much has been said about cell phone courtesy. You would think by now people would understand the polite and courteous ways to use their cell phones. But we know they don’t. There are still thousands of cell phone abusers out there. Of course, the creation of the smart phone has done nothing to make the situation better; it has only made it worse.

I believe this is the perfect time to do a review of cell phone courtesy, redundant as it may seem to those of you who not only know the rules, but who also follow them.

  1. Turn off your cell phone and put it out of sight when you are in the company of others. Putting it on the table in front of you tells others that you are not fully present.
  2. If a call comes in when you have it on vibrate, resist the urge to check to see who is calling when you are with other people. It is discounting to those around you.
  3. If you chose to talk on your phone in public, lower your voice. The microphone on your phone is highly sensitive. There is no need for cell yell. Strangers don’t want to be privy to your conversation.
  4. If you want to be considered a professional, use a business-like ring tone. Cute little rings will not impress your clients or prospects.
  5. Texting in front of others in a meeting is just as rude as talking on your phone. It may be silent, but everyone knows what you are doing.
  6. Never take a call in a meeting. If you are expecting an important call, let others know. Keep the phone on vibrate so it is not an interruption. Then leave the room to take the call.

If you have any pet peeves about cell phones or smart phones, I would love to know them. Email them to me at lydia@mannersthatsell.com or post your comments in the box below the blog.

When you exercise cell phone courtesy, you set the tone for others.

Cell phone courtesy should be part of your business etiquette and professional package.

Here’s to talking and texting with courtesy and good manners!

professional speaker

Photo from Savannah magazine

Hire Lydia to work with your staff to improve customer service and employee relations through the use of those priceless and often over-looked soft skills called manners. Lydia is the “unstuffy” business etiquette expert who helps individuals and organizations add the polish that builds profits. We’re talking about your bottom line here.

Since 1996, countless people have benefited from her wisdom through keynotes, seminars and conference breakout sessions.  Her Southern charm and sense of humor have made her a sought-after speaker and consultant.

Based in Savannah, Georgia, Lydia is available for national, regional and local speaking and training engagements. She has suitcase; will travel.

Contact her via email at lydia@lydiaramsey.com or call 912-604-0080. Sign up for her free monthly newsletter and visit her website, lydiaramsey.com.

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The Etiquette of Cell Phones and Symphonies

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It happened again.  A cell phone rang in the midst of a concert, and this time it made all the national media, including several international publications. It seems that while the New York Philharmonic Orchestra was playing Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, a cell phone began to ring.  The proud new owner of an iPhone had set his ring tone to play “Mirimba,” not exactly a good fit for Mahler’s Symphony. The ringing continued so long that the conductor, Alan Gilbert, stopped the orchestra until the disruption ceased.

When will people  learn about the etiquette of cell phones?  This particular person claimed that his was a brand new iPhone and that although he thought he had turned it off, an alarm he had set earlier went off anyway. There is much debate about this part of the story.  Many iPhone users claiming that this could not have happened if in fact he had truly  turned off the phone. Not being a iPhone user (sorry Apple) or skilled in the complexity of cell phones, I will leave this issue alone.  My expertise is in business etiquette and my focus here is cell phone etiquette.

Here are my thoughts on how this situation could have been avoided:

  1. Leave the cell phone at home or in the car, but don’t take it to the concert. If you have to have it with you, and I will concede that are a number of justifiable reasons for doing so these days, make sure you follow rule #2.
  2. Put your phone in silent mode, on vibrate or turn it off. You can check for messages or send them during the intermission.  There probably is no one on the planet who has had a cell phone for any length of time who has not experienced that embarrassing moment when the phone that was supposed to be turned off rang.  Mine once rang on an airplane during landing of all times. I never for a moment  considered that it was my phone, and like everyone else was looking around to see who the culprit was.
  3. If your phone rings in the midst of a public event, turn it off immediately.  If you can’t or don’t know how, find the nearest exit and head  for it as fast as you can. Don’t try this on an airplane.
  4. Never let your phone continue to ring and try to pretend that it is not yours.
  5. Absolutely never answer the phone during an event and engage in conversation.  That actually happened  during one of my business etiquette presentations. One of the participants who, for obvious reasons sat in the back of the room, had his phone on. This was no accident. When a call came in, he not only answered it, but he also remained seated and launched into a lengthy conversation. I stopped talking. Fifty participants in a presentation, which included the topic of  cell phone etiquette, turned to stare or glare at  the offender. I walked back to where he was seated and stood in front of him until he got up and left the room.

Some people can’t be helped, but others can.  The people in my etiquette session understood how inappropriate this behavior was.  The crowd attending the concert got it as well. We stop the presentation or the concert and we wait, hoping that these thoughtless people will get the message. And people like me who make a living teaching, preaching and coaching on manners in the workplace do have followers and believers in the importance of being courteous and respectful of other people.

Cell phones are as much a part of our daily lives as eating, sleeping and breathing. Let’s use them appropriately.

professional speaker

Photo from Savannah magazine

Hire Lydia to work with your staff to improve customer service and employee relations through the use of those priceless and often over-looked soft skills called manners. Lydia is the “unstuffy” business etiquette expert who helps individuals and organizations add the polish that builds profits. We’re talking about your bottom line here.

Since 1996, countless people have benefited from her wisdom through keynotes, seminars and conference breakout sessions.  Her Southern charm and sense of humor have made her a sought-after speaker and consultant.

Based in Savannah, Georgia, Lydia is available for national, regional and local speaking and training engagements. She has suitcase; will travel.

Contact her via email at lydia@lydiaramsey.com or call 912-604-0080. Sign up for her free monthly newsletter and visit her website, lydiaramsey.com.

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Turn Off That Cell Phone! Business Etiquette Matters

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You just can’t get away from them.  Everywhere you go cell phones are ringing, vibrating and lighting up. Almost everyone has one in hand, on the meeting room table, and always at the ready. They are hurting business, reputations and relationships.  One of those businesses might be yours.

Recently I was part of a team interviewing a prospective new employee. Naturally the department head began the questioning. Once he had concluded with what he deemed to be his part in the process, he turned the interview over to the rest of us. At that point he reached for his cell phone and began to check messages. As if that wasn’t egregious enough, he then proceeded to text replies.  If an elephant had walked in the room and taken a seat at that moment, it would not have been more noticeable.

Imagine how the prospective employee felt.  Obviously, neither she nor the position she was seeking were of much importance.  She was offered the job, but turned it down.  Are you surprised?

People need to feel important and the way to do that is to give them your undivided attention.

professional speaker

Photo from Savannah magazine

Hire Lydia to work with your staff to improve customer service and employee relations through the use of those priceless and often over-looked soft skills called manners. Lydia is the “unstuffy” business etiquette expert who helps individuals and organizations add the polish that builds profits. We’re talking about your bottom line here.

Since 1996, countless people have benefited from her wisdom through keynotes, seminars and conference breakout sessions.  Her Southern charm and sense of humor have made her a sought-after speaker and consultant.

Based in Savannah, Georgia, Lydia is available for national, regional and local speaking and training engagements. She has suitcase; will travel.

Contact her via email at lydia@lydiaramsey.com or call 912-604-0080. Sign up for her free monthly newsletter and visit her website, lydiaramsey.com.

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National Cell Phone Courtesy Observance Month

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I just came across an article titled “There is a Month for That: National Cell Phone Courtesy Observance” written by Deborah St. Thomas and published in the North Branford Patch. I am delighted that someone is calling attention to the need for courtesy while using cell phones; however I feel the same way about this as I did when we celebrated business etiquette week. Shouldn’t we be courteous when using our cell phones twelve months of the year, not just in July?

Are you tired of listening to other people’s most intimate personal conversations or to the details of some business person’s latest deal or most current organizational crisis?  Have you had it with cell yell?  Does it make you crazy when someone behind you says, “Hello,” and when you turn around to respond, you find out that you are not the one being spoken to. Do you feel that you should grab your cell phone the minute the plane lands or else the people around you will think you are a nobody?

It is my experience as a business etiquette expert that the majority of people know the rules of cell phone courtesy, they just believe that they apply to others and not themselves.

What do you think?  I’d love to know.

professional speaker

Photo from Savannah magazine

Hire Lydia to work with your staff to improve customer service and employee relations through the use of those priceless and often over-looked soft skills called manners. Lydia is the “unstuffy” business etiquette expert who helps individuals and organizations add the polish that builds profits. We’re talking about your bottom line here.

Since 1996, countless people have benefited from her wisdom through keynotes, seminars and conference breakout sessions.  Her Southern charm and sense of humor have made her a sought-after speaker and consultant.

Based in Savannah, Georgia, Lydia is available for national, regional and local speaking and training engagements. She has suitcase; will travel.

Contact her via email at lydia@lydiaramsey.com or call 912-604-0080. Sign up for her free monthly newsletter and visit her website, lydiaramsey.com.

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Don’t Tweet From The Church

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Don’t tweet from the church.  That’s the headline from an article published by the Associated Press today. Who ever would have thought that the time would come when people would have to be told not to take their cell phones to the royal wedding or if they do, to turn them off and certainly not to tweet or update their Facebook status during the ceremony. We have certainly sunk to a new low when it comes to etiquette and protocol.

As a business etiquette expert who speaks and writes about the rules of manners on a daily basis, I was surprised that I was surprised. I can understand the need to explain proper attire in today’s world of jeans and flip-flops and to advise people on when and how to interact with the Queen.  After all it is not every day that one is invited to a royal wedding.  But not to tweet. Shouldn’t anyone included on the guest list have knowledge of at least the basic rules of good manners?

My favorite quote from the article is this: “The ultimate faux pas would be to have your mobile phone go off in the Abbey, even if you had ‘God Save the Queen’ as your ringtone.”

Is it just me?

professional speaker

Photo from Savannah magazine

Hire Lydia to work with your staff to improve customer service and employee relations through the use of those priceless and often over-looked soft skills called manners. Lydia is the “unstuffy” business etiquette expert who helps individuals and organizations add the polish that builds profits. We’re talking about your bottom line here.

Since 1996, countless people have benefited from her wisdom through keynotes, seminars and conference breakout sessions.  Her Southern charm and sense of humor have made her a sought-after speaker and consultant.

Based in Savannah, Georgia, Lydia is available for national, regional and local speaking and training engagements. She has suitcase; will travel.

Contact her via email at lydia@lydiaramsey.com or call 912-604-0080. Sign up for her free monthly newsletter and visit her website, lydiaramsey.com.

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Ignoring Cell Phone Etiquette Can Cost You Business

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Mobility conceptDid you know that July is National Cell Phone Month? It was founded as a means to market cell phone etiquette, not as a way to promote the sale of mobile phones.  Selling those little hand-held communication devices does not seem to be a problem.  They are more common than the house fly and spreading like the plague.  It’s the proper and polite way to use them that is the issue. In fact, whenever I write the words “cell phone etiquette”, it occurs to me that the term is something of an oxymoron. Cell phones and good manners do not seem to go hand in hand.

When the portable handset was invented by Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973, neither he nor his rival, Joel Engel, head of research at Bell Labs could have imagined that today, 37 years later, mobile phones would dominate the world. It is estimated that 4,239,956 people around the globe are having a cell phone conversation at any given second. Most people today do not seem to go anywhere without carrying their phones. Nowhere are they more important than in the shrinking global business world where more and more people are ‘on message’ 24-7.

Cell phones are a blessing to business people on the move, but when they are not used appropriately, they can be annoying and disruptive. Good etiquette is important in terms of what you should and shouldn’t do when using cell phones in the workplace. Rude or improper use of a cell phone can cost you considerably in the business world.

Cell phones have become a serious issue in business meetings. Consider these rules of cell phone etiquette during meetings:

1.   If you are in a meeting, make sure your phone is turned off or put on silent ringer. Putting it on vibrate can be just as annoying or offensive to those around you as hearing your phone ring.

2.   Don’t answer your phone, make calls, text or respond to texts during a meeting.

3.   Ask yourself if you really need to take your phone into the meeting. I know for many of you that is an unconscionable thought. It’s much like asking yourself if you need to wear your clothes to the meeting.

4.   Don’t put your phone on the table during a meeting. It sends a message that you are not fully present or engaged.  Doing so could cost you the client or the business.

5.   Use the voice mail feature on your phone just as you do your out of office reply for your e-mail. Let people know that you are in a meeting and unable to take their call; but don’t forget to let them know when they can expect to hear back from you.

6.   If you have to take a call during a meeting, be courteous and explain to the other attendees that you need to be available for a call and ask their permission to leave your phone on.

7.   When the all important call comes, excuse yourself from the meeting to answer it and converse.

8.   Watch the clock while you are on the call and away from the meeting. It would be rude to stay out of the room for a lengthy period of time.

9.   The business lunch or dinner is the same as the business meeting so all of the above rules of cell phone etiquette apply.

Your cell phone should be used to connect with clients, not disconnect.

Here’s to cell phone courtesy!

professional speaker

Photo from Savannah magazine

Hire Lydia to work with your staff to improve customer service and employee relations through the use of those priceless and often over-looked soft skills called manners. Lydia is the “unstuffy” business etiquette expert who helps individuals and organizations add the polish that builds profits. We’re talking about your bottom line here.

Since 1996, countless people have benefited from her wisdom through keynotes, seminars and conference breakout sessions.  Her Southern charm and sense of humor have made her a sought-after speaker and consultant.

Based in Savannah, Georgia, Lydia is available for national, regional and local speaking and training engagements. She has suitcase; will travel.

Contact her via email at lydia@lydiaramsey.com or call 912-604-0080. Sign up for her free monthly newsletter and visit her website, lydiaramsey.com.

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How about a Little Cell Phone Etiquette?

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Did you know that July is cell phone courtesy month?  Established as such in 2002, I have to admit that I haven’t seen many people practicing cell phone etiquette. Those of us who speak and write about business and personal etiquette are constantly harping on the use and abuse of cell phones.  We tend to preach to the choir.  Moreover I have decided that are two groups of cell phone users: the considerate ones and the totally oblivious ones.

Courteous cell phone users exhibit the following behaviors:

  • They turn off their phones in public places.
  • They lower their voice when they speak any where near other people.
  • They let others know if they have to take an urgent call and ask permission to leave their phones on.
  • They apologize when they ask permission.
  • They excuse themselves to receive calls.
  • They don’t check incoming calls in front of other people when the phone sends out an alert vibration.
  • They avoid using goofy ring tones.
  • They set their ring tones on low.
  • They respect when a business, an organization or an individual requests that cell phones be turned off.
  • They don’t insist on conversing on their cell phones when reception is poor.
  • They don’t drive, chew gum and talk on their cell phones all at the same time.
  • They don’t treat cell phones as essential body parts.

Inconsiderate cell phone users do just the opposite.

So how about a little cell phone courtesy this month and forever more?

professional speaker

Photo from Savannah magazine

Hire Lydia to work with your staff to improve customer service and employee relations through the use of those priceless and often over-looked soft skills called manners. Lydia is the “unstuffy” business etiquette expert who helps individuals and organizations add the polish that builds profits. We’re talking about your bottom line here.

Since 1996, countless people have benefited from her wisdom through keynotes, seminars and conference breakout sessions.  Her Southern charm and sense of humor have made her a sought-after speaker and consultant.

Based in Savannah, Georgia, Lydia is available for national, regional and local speaking and training engagements. She has suitcase; will travel.

Contact her via email at lydia@lydiaramsey.com or call 912-604-0080. Sign up for her free monthly newsletter and visit her website, lydiaramsey.com.

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