How to end a phone call
Image accessed from on 22 February 2020.
Phone calls are a foreign concept to the modern millennial. At least, they certainly were for me. Why call someone when you can have them text you?听Then you can pretend you haven't seen that text, wait a socially appropriate amount of time to construct the perfect response, and let them do the same in response.
The first phone calls I took in an office environment were so awkward that I had to explain a number of times that it was my first day and I was still getting used to everything (including phone calls constantly听interrupting听me at the worst moments). People have a lot of sympathy when you let them know it's your first day. I guess we've all been there.
I smoothed over a lot of the rough edges in my phone manner by taking calls. "Uh hello, this is um, yeah do you know who you want to like, talk to?" became "This is X, how may I help you."
In spite of my significant improvement, gracefully ending a phone call seems to remain听beyond my grasp. I think this all comes down to my tendency to use the word "bye" too abruptly.
Important Professional Person: "All right, so we'll send through all the stuff and get it sorted."
My Response: "Okay, bye."
Bye just doesn't seem like a good phone call word. Except I don't know exactly how to replace it. I think 'see ya' works a little better. "Too easy, see ya." maybe that works?
I think the real problem is that听I need more buildup, "Too easy, is that all?" "Thanks for your time and听I'll hear from you then".听Like lots of things, ending a conversation听seems to come down to just having enough confidence.
Someone used, "Enjoy the rest of your day," to end a phone call with me. I think that's a nice alternative to just blurting out bye. It seems to add a bit of a personal touch.听It seems like a simple way to let someone know you're hoping their life is going well.
If you want to spend more time considering all the ways to听end a phone call, there's more information out there! ()
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