My PA Emma is amazing. Brilliant at her job. Our customers all love her. And she saves me hours every week. Here’s how…
When people ring, they often want to see me face-to-face (f2f) for an hour.
So, if appropriate, Em says ‘Andy’d love to meet you. But we don’t need to take an hour of your time – he’s really quick at things like this. So let’s put it in for less. If you and Andy then agree you’d like more time, you can sort that with him then – OK?’
And of course, they always agree with this. Because it’s better and quicker for them.
She then says ‘I want to book it in ASAP for you. But, because you’re in different cities, it’ll be much quicker for you if I organise a telephone meeting for you – OK?’
Again, they agree with this too.
So, the caller’s delighted. They’ve got the meeting they wanted. Even better – it’s only twenty minutes, taking place soon; not one hour f2f in a few weeks.
And for the few people who’ve said to Emma “I much prefer face-to-face than phone”, she tends to reply “Have you seen his face?! Trust me – phone’s better.”
And for some reason they always agree with this!
Action Point
How many hours do you spend in one-hour f2f meetings? Shorten them. Or hold them less often. Or make them telephone not f2f. This will save all of you lots of time – every week.