How effectively do you support your boss on the phone?

Als Sekretärin oder Assistentin gehört zu Ihren Hauptaufgaben, Ihren Chef vor unnötigen Störungen zu schützen. Hierfür ist es unerlässlich, dass Sie mit lästigen Anrufern konsequent umgehen. Das gelingt am besten, wenn Sie Ihre Aufgabe mit einem Eishockeyspiel vergleichen, sagt Val Williams.

Calls are coming in from people you know and people you don´t know, all trying to get through to your boss. You are like a traffic cop, directing away all those unwanted callers. But when callers are persistent, it´s less like directing traffic and more like being "a cross between a magician and a linebacker", says New Jersey business coach Val Williams. "The persistent caller´s goal is to get to your boss", she says. "But you have a goal too, to protect your boss." You have to respect the caller´s perseverance. After all, they are only doing their job. But you are also only doing yours.

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How to deal with that pushy caller

But what about that pushy caller who´s been ringing all week? Val Williams has four pieces of advice:

1 Be direct and brief
Give a genuine reason, and keep it brief. Don´t go into detail, Williams advises. "If the person berates you and say he´s called four or five times, just state that you passed the message along so the person doesn´t conclude that you´re blocking access to the boss. You´ve done your part."

I´m sorry. My boss has been really busy, but I want you to know I´ve relayed your message.

2 Watch your tone of voice

Use a neutral voice and make sure you sound neither accusing nor overly apologetic. Sounding too apologetic validates that the person who is calling has been wronged in some way. In no way should you put yourself in alignment with this person by agreeing that your boss should actually call him back.

3 Dig deep

A super secretary "digs deeper and gets to the root of why someone´s even calling", says Williams. Dig deep, find out why they are calling and answer their question. Or tell them that you can´t promise your boss will phone them back unless they say why they are calling. This way you will avoid spending time dealing with persistent callers.

  • Please tell me what it´s about. I might be able to help you.
  • If you´d like to tell me what you´re calling about, I can find out for you.
  • I can´t promise that Mr Grant will call you back if you won´t tell me what it´s about.

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4 Don´t make your boss look bad

It´s great if you can block calls effectively, but be careful that you don´t make your boss look like someone who never returns calls. If someone has called several times, tell your boss about it and ask how you should deal with that person next time they call. For example, offer to call the person back to say whatever it is your boss wants you to do.

  • My boss has checked out the information you gave me and has instructed me to tell you he´s not interested in your products.
  • He said thank you for offering your services, but we don´t need them.

Anyone who keeps calling after that is "just rude", says Williams.