Ashley Brooke Designs: A Situation

Everyone is put on the spot at some point or another.  Here is what Ms. Emily Post herself says about invitations over the phone:

If you are extending an invitation by phone be direct.  Something like "Hi Suzie, we are having a few people over Friday night for a game night, can you and Steve make it?"  

Suzie can either accept or say "I'm sorry, sounds fun, but we already have plans Friday night."  

"I'll let you know," by itself is not an appropriate response.  This makes it sound like you are waiting for a better invitation to come along.  The only time it's acceptable is if it is followed up with an explanation like, "I'll let you know after I check with Steve to be sure he is free Friday night," or "We have tickets for a play Friday night, I'll let you know if I can exchange them for another night."

Content and Illustrations ©2010 Ashley Brooke Designs. All Rights Reserved.

Ashley Brooke Designs: Voicemail Messages

Here are some things to remember when leaving a message for someone or when someone leaves you a message:

Leaving voice mail:

Always state your name and number first thing.  This will alleviate your name and number from getting cut off when you've exceeded the allotted time for the message.  Keep your message brief.  People don't like long messages and you should save the majority of your conversation for when you do get in touch with the person you're trying to reach.  Particularly if you are leaving a message of complaint.  Keeping it brief will prevent you from feeling like you can say whatever you feel, instead of constructively offering criticism and looking for a solution.

Returning calls:

A good rule of thumb for returning messages is to do it within 24 hours, unless you are out of town or there are other extenuating circumstances.  If you are forced to leave a message, tell the person when exactly you'll be available to chat.  Hopefully this will help you to avoid playing phone tag.

Content and Illustrations ©2010 Ashley Brooke Designs. All Rights Reserved.

Guest Blogger: Phone Etiquette

Good morning!!
This week is very exciting over here at Ashley Brooke Designs as I have a guest blogger all week and her name is Janine. She has a fabulous etiquette blog and offers great advice, I thought you all would love to hear from her for a change of perspective. This week she will cover the top five etiquette tips! I am looking forward to this week and having her on board. Stay tuned and enjoy!


Get to know Janine-
Hello readers, my name is Janine, I have a blog called The Pink Teapot that is solely driven by rules of etiquette. Ashley and I found each other and have been wanting to do something like this for a while, so I’m excited for this opportunity. Thank you Ashley, I look forward to talking about my top five subjects of etiquette along with my “do’s and don’ts” for each subject. The topic for today is:

Phone Etiquette

Ask the person whom you are calling if it is a good time to talk or chat. You don’t know under what circumstances you’ve caught them and they might not tell you unless asked, so it’s always a nice gesture. “Hey Herald, it’s Janine. Did I catch you at a good time?”

Enough with the Caller ID- I have Caller ID so if my children call or my children’s school calls, I can take that call, however I have been on the other end of the phone when someone endlessly answers their other line but I notice that the same person will not answer when I might “beep” in on the other line while my children might be playing at their house. I think consistency is important. Decide why you have this feature; is it for convenience or is it for emergency? Is it so you never miss an incoming call from anyone? Some people do have businesses in their homes and must have this feature, but I speak of people who are at home receiving personal calls. If I’m on the phone with someone and I can hear that another call keeps coming in, I will ask them if they need to get that call out of courtesy, but I appreciate the friends who don’t constantly put me on hold. When you are talking to someone, talk to that person alone and stop playing “grand central station”- we get it, you’re busy; and if you’re that busy, then the first rule should take care of this problem or if it’s an important phone call you can pick up the phone and press *70 and then dial the number and your phone will ring busy thus disabling call waiting temporarily if the call is important.

Voicemail and answering machines are the norm these days. I love everyone’s cute children and I admit, I even love hearing their little voices on the machine-once. When recording a greeting, keep it brief and concise and don’t put your children on your answering machine. When leaving a message, keep it brief and concise, and don’t forget to leave your number twice and leave it at the beginning of the message so that if they do have to rewind the message and listen to your number again, it’s at the beginning, that’s a thoughtful gesture.

Cell phones have made all kinds of other possible etiquette breaches possible. I have talked about these on my blog, here is the link to that article for more helpful information.
~Janine