You are the only receptionist up front ….. you are helping someone at the courter, the phone rings, some poeple walk in for appointments. How do you handle all this happening, how, in what steps, in detail.

Thank you.

As a former top-level executive assistant for a Fortune 100 company who has now become a business owner myself, I have lived both sides of this issue. Your advice is right-on!

When I was in “Corporate America” I got many compliments from my boss on how helpful I was, but I didn’t really “get it”. As far as I could tell, I was just doing my job. Now that I am “the boss”, I really appreciate the stress of sitting behind that big desk and the huge responsibility of making the right decisions to ensure that all the bills (and the employees) get paid.

I also appreciate the high value of getting even 20 minutes of uninterrupted time to complete a small project. I am absolutely floored that the sheer volume of calls I get that should or could be handled by someone else. Even a short, 2 min. phone call, breaks concentration and it can take 15-20 minutes to get back in “the zone” of the work I was doing.

Effective call screening can make all the difference in whether I get my work done or not. When I am able to focus on my core business purpose and get my work done, the business grows and we are able to provide things like increased pay and benefits to everyone. When I don’t get my work done (like if I’m answering sales calls) the business slows down, and that could eventually lead to cutbacks and layoffs.

Keep up the great work on this wonderful site!

Now, to look at your example above, if the receptionist put you on hold, then she likely went to the boss, and *he* told her he was too busy to talk to you. So I’d guess that the boss wasn’t as impressed with talking to you as you seem to think.

And it’s amazing how your $30,000 opportunity grew to $40,000 in the time it took to call a second mark….errrr….colleague.

The people we attempt to attract to our business are customers, not salesmen who want to take money from the business. If the information you have to sell is really that valuable, then you probably need to spend more time convincing contacts of that so they put you and the “always put through” list. If you aren’t on that list, then you must not be doing a very good job of selling yourself.

A good admin, regardless of her salary, is constantly learning and constantly applying what she learns. If an admin routinely passes through all the calls her boss receives, I can guarantee she won’t remain employed as an admin for long.

I recently phoned a colleague who works for a large recruitment firm, to pass on an opportunity that would have made him about $30,000. Ordinarily I would have his mobile number, but that day I was experiencing problems with my electronic organizer and had to phone his office directly.

The receptionist who answered the call launched into the second coming of the Spanish inquisition. She wanted to know why I was calling and what I wanted to speak to this person about. Not wanting to go into the intricacies of the opportunity, I told her that I knew him personally and that I had an opportunity that he would be interested in. She sighed loudly and cut me off by putting me on hold. When she returned, she told me he was too busy to speak with me and that she would take a message.

After her response, I phoned another colleague and gave him the $40,000 opportunity.

How much money are you losing from call screening?

It’s amazing how much time and money we can spend on attracting people to our business, yet when they phone us, instead of a warm welcome, we annoy them by “screening” calls and making them feel unwelcome.

So, my question to you is … how many people are ringing you and not providing you with opportunities because of your screening policy.

Every person I’ve ever asked why they have a screening policy in place always answers the same … that it’s to save time so that they can focus on what they’re meant to be doing. Or, they’re trying to get rid of all the time consuming calls that could be easily dealt with someone else.

It’s not like Im a super busy person but I often receive about 100-200 emails daily, its really good to only read the important ones and stop wasting time skipping the unimportant ones.

The key here is to find someone that can act on his/her own knowledge, for example if she received an bill by emal she can simply keep records of it and ask me for the green light to pay and thats it. I dont have to login, put my info, pay, confirm payment, etc. They have all that information with them and if you trust them it’ll work.

If you keep a copy of the messages, it’s very easy to follow up with the boss every few hours to ask if he’s returned those calls or not. One admin professional who has a blog calls herself the Paid, Professional Nag. I think it’s an appropos title for someone in our line of work. Sometimes we have to play the boss’s conscience to keep him on his toes when he wants to avoid a particular duty.

It’s possible that he isn’t avoiding returning the call, but just forgets them in the press of other duties. Whether that’s the case or not (we can be generous and give him the benefit of the doubt), your reminders can help spur him to get those calls made. This is especially easy with a new boss, because if you start it from the beginning, he won’t see it as a change in behavior. If he (or she) asks why you ask, just tell him that you like to keep track that messages are handled, just in case there’s any questions later. And, of course, in a school system you like to have accountability, so he’d probably consider it a good idea anyway.

Good luck at the new school.

I am up for another job at a school. What do I do if this happens again?

As for uninvited visitors, my usual reply (which is the same for callers) is that the boss is “unavailable at the moment”. I ask them what they are there for and if someone else can assist them. Of course, if the boss has an open door policy, it’s harder if they can just stick their head in the door and see you at your desk working.

I’ve always tried to keep work periods sacrosanct for my boss. Managers spend so much time in meetings that they must have some uninterrupted time during the day to get work done. There must be time when they are “unavailable.