Beware of the Telephone Jerk…

Just thinking back on my conversation with this guy makes me cringe. A couple of weeks ago, one of my co-workers gave me the contact name of a friend of hers, and suggested I interview him for an article I was writing. I called him up to let him know that I was going to be in his neighborhood, and to ask him if he would like to meet up and discuss his views.

In general, these informational interview calls go pretty well – either people are able to meet with you and are pleased at your interest, or they’re too busy so they politely decline. Oh no, not this guy. He made it clear that I was wasting his time, and used such a rude and obnoxious tone with me that you would have thought I was a telemarketer calling him in the middle of his Sunday night dinner.

When people are unexpectedly rude to me, it can take me aback and leave me speechless. (Like most people, I can always conjure up the perfect comeback, 24 hours later and in the middle of the night). As it was, I was left holding onto the phone, blabbering on in embarrassment as he hung up on me. Ouch! I was determined not to let this kind of thing happen to me again.

So what should you do with the phone jerks you encounter in your working lives?

Here are the mistakes I made:

• I didn’t have a script for the call. If I had, I could have terminated it as soon as he started getting nasty. You don’t have to put up with rudeness in anybody, especially not in a disembodied voice.
• I allowed myself to get flustered. He was the jerk, not me, but I let him control the situation, and I was the one who ended up apologizing.
• I took it personally and felt insulted. I had to remind myself that the fact that he’s about as pleasant as a root canal is his problem, not mine.So I made this Telephone Promise to myself in future:

• Make sure I’m fully prepared for any situation when I pick up the phone and dial.
• End the call as soon as politely possible if someone is being rude and it doesn’t look like the desired outcome will be achieved.
• Chalk it up to experience and don’t beat myself up about it.

So next time, I’ll try to pick up the phone with confidence and remember that most people are polite (most of the time).