If you are in direct sales, you participate in conference calls. Whether you lead calls, attend calls, or both, there are some unspoken rules of etiquette that will benefit everyone by being said.  Feel free to share these tips with your team. They will be great reminders for established members, and good training for new team member.

  1. Keep track of conference call dates/times. Make sure you know when your conference call is, and be sure to keep the conference call number and pin handy so you are not scrambling to find it at the last-minute. Your meeting reminder shouldn’t come from a call or email from someone who is on the meeting when you aren’t.
  2.  Disable your “Call Waiting” feature. The clicking noise you hear when another call comes in can be heard by the other participants and will be distracting. For most phone systems, dial *70 (star 70) to disable the call waiting. When you hang up, “Call Waiting” will be automatically re-enabled.
  3. Be early. If the call starts at the top of the hour, dial in a minute or two before.  If the host of the call isn’t present, you’ll probably get some kind of elevator music, but it is polite to be there when the call starts.
  4. If you arrive late, do not interrupt the call. Remain silent and catch up as best you can. Do not ask the conference call leader to repeat any material that you may have missed.
  5. Take conference calls in a quiet place.  Even if you are muted, you are not as likely to be present on the call. Of course if you are not in a quiet place, mute your phone.
  6. Assume the line is never muted.  It is not fun to hear a toilet flush or “Number 6 with a Diet Coke” in the middle of a call from someone who probably thought that their line was muted.
  7. Take notes.  You will listen better, be more attentive, and get more from the call if you take notes.
  8. Maintain a good cell phone reception. A bad cell phone connection could cause static or make your voice beak up when you speak, making your input to the conference call hard to understand. Sometimes it can even lead to a dropped call, in which you have to call back into the meeting.
  9. Never put your phone on “Hold” to do something else. If your hold feature plays background music it will play into the conference call and make it impossible for the other participants to continue the meeting in your absence!
  10. Be a polite responder. When commenting on what another participant has said, please keep your comments constructive, positive, and short.

Can you think of any others I might have missed?  Watch for the next blog on the leader’s role in a conference call.  Want to learn how to have conference calls that ROCK?  Subscribe to First Friday, our leadership training that supports Direct Selling Leaders with wisdom and coaching

Our First Friday call on April 4, 2014 is about productive conference calls. If this is a topic that has you struggling, join First Friday.  You can be on the call, ask your questions, and get a recording of everything said.