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Defusing Tactic # 26: Telephone Silence
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Written by Robert Bacal
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Learn how to apply Tactic # 26 – Telephone Silence - in order to gain and maintain control over hostile interactions. Like any kind of conversation, conversations over the telephone have rules. One of those rules is that when one person is talking, the other person sends signals to the "talker" that they are listening, and still there. This is necessary because the parties can't see each other. The only way to know there is a person on the other end is if the other person makes some sort of noise, usually "yes", "uh-huh", "I understand", etc. Consistent with our self-defense principles, you do not want to follow this rule. The best way to get a person to stop talking on the phone is simply to say nothing at all. If you can avoid breathing into the phone, or if you can exclude any noise getting through from your end, this is even better. Eventually, the person on the other end will stop, and say something like "Hello, hello, are you there?", and pause for a moment. This gives you the opportunity to say something at the invitation of the caller.
This is an excerpt from the Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook. For an in-depth example of this tactic, or for more detailed help on defusing customer hostility, click here. |
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Customer Service 
