"Hello!"

I talk on the phone a fair deal, and a lot of the people that talk with me call me because they have to not because they want to. Somewhere along the line I found a tip for good customer service that said you should always answer the phone with a smile on your face.

It actually really works. I don’t know if people can hear it or if by smiling you are changing your own perception of the conversation but it really seems to have an effect. A more friendly conversation seems to ensue and people seem happy when they get off the phone with me (though people seem generally happy to get off the phone with me anyway).

I dunno, just a thought for the day.