The international call forwarding service provider, TollFreeForwarding.com, recently surveyed 2000 working Americans about their phone skills and found that nearly half of office workers have reservations about using the phone as opposed to e-mail in an office environment. The reasons they found include anxiety, giving bad news, fear of rejection, nerves, forgetting things, miscommunication and not being able to communicate effectively.
The study revealed that one in five employees under age 24 feel anxious about every phone call they make at work. Of the three most essential methods of communication in companies – phones, face-to-face and e-mail – phone calls were found to be the most feared option, with only 6.5% of those between 25 and 34 feeling comfortable using a phone. This figure rises to 72% in 16-24 year olds as they’re the most fearful. This is in sharp contrast to only 35% of adults over 55 who are frightened of using the phone
The findings displayed visually here confirm that businesses are missing out on one of the most effective forms of communication. It shows that even though over a third (38%) of employees think it’s the most effective way to communicate, only 9% are truly comfortable using the phone in a work environment compared to 23% at home.
The worry here is that this could be a potential hindrance to business and could essentially be affecting revenue. To combat this, TollFreeForwarding.com worked with business experts and University lecturers from around the world to create this phone guide on how to Make the Perfect Professional Phone Call. This useful guide advises business workers on how to prep for making the call, use their best voice through-out the duration of the call and how to end the call in a professional manner.