Etiquette Throwback: 1985, Letitia Baldridge's Complete Guide to Executive Manners
Having just updated Amy Vanderbilt's classic, Letitia Baldridge saw the need for business etiquette, we explore her section, "The Hold Button - A Necessary Evil"
Letitia Baldridge’s Complete Guide to Executive Manners, 1985
The Hold Button: A Necessary Evil
Letitia Baldridge’s Complete Guide to Executive Manners has occupied a spot on our shelf for decades now. Our 1985 edition has become a favorite to turn to for detailed, traditional business etiquette advice. It is chock-full of examples, from invitations to sample notes to the most useful charts for forms of address. Baldridge had taken on the task of updating Amy Vanderbilt’s Complete Book of Etiquette just a few years prior and tells us in her introduction that the business manners section of that book was included but small. After its publication, she received many inquiries asking specifically about business etiquette, and thus, a book idea was born.
Today, we look at an excerpt that deals with putting people on hold and how to handle this rude necessity. Remember, this was the 1980s, and hold was one of the only phone features at the time.
*Please note that grammar and spelling in the following excerpt follow 20th-century standards.
Executive Communication
The Hold Button: A Necessary Evil
pg 91-92
In my opinion there is only one thing worse in telephone manners than being put on hold, and that is being put on hold with music playing in the background.
Being put on hold when you’re calling an airline or a department store is one thing; if customers and clients are constantly put on hold in your office, it is quite another matter. If you are talking and a second line rings, apologize to the first caller and say you will return instantly; put them on hold and tell the second person, before he has a chance to say anything, “I’m sorry, I must come right back to you.” Then return to the first person and try to finish your call. If it is not possible to finish the first call that quickly, apologize to him once again, put him on hold, and return to the second call to say you’re sorry but you will call that person back in a few minutes if he or she will give you the name and number.
The first call always has the priority, unless the second call is something like a station-to-station call from another country, in which case you should explain to the first caller why you must hang up and get back to him in a few minutes.
The important thing to remember is never to leave anyone on hold for more than a few seconds. Talk to him quickly, apologetically, and make him understand why you must call him back. Just the words “I really hate to leave you on hold” pour balm on the wounded caller. And remember your promise to call back right away. Don’t forget it!
While many of us may be working off a mobile phone these days, the advice of giving priority to caller number one is still great advice for both business and social situations. The second call is an interruption to the first, and while on some occasions it is understandable, for the most part, voicemail, and texting features mean that unless it is clearly an emergency, we have the tools to manage multiple calls without being rude to caller number one.
Checking our phones first to see who is calling, allowing interrupting calls to go straight to voicemail, and trusting that the person calling will leave a message or send a text if they can’t reach us at the moment mean that today, more than any other time since the invention of the telephone, we can truly prioritize caller number one. And that is good etiquette.
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