I like to think I’m a great secretary. I have a powerful organisational mind, to the point where I just can’t look at a messy desk without tidying it. No one in the office makes better instant coffee, and I’m able to book appointments before the boss even thinks about making them. I just think ahead, you see.
But there’s a problem, and I think it’s getting to the point where I need some help. I’m terribly, awfully, paradoxically, clinically afraid of answering the phone. I just…well, the thought of talking to another person without them being there sends chills up my spine. It hasn’t been a problem thus far, because on my first day I convinced the boss that we should take advantage of one of Melbourne’s call answering services. I could clearly see that sometimes, we get inundated with calls. It happens, right?! Ha ha, we needed to DO something about that. No use our clients not being able to get through because our entire phone board was full. Our company’s potential clients were in jeopardy, so on my very first day, I made the decisive action to call in (via email) a live phone answering service. Everyone congratulated me, the boss said a few more ideas like that will send me right to the top and in the end, we actually needed it. It’s great for everyone who can’t just drop whatever they’re doing to answer the phone.
But then it got complicated. A client mentioned to the boss how I never seemed to answer my calls, and they’re always redirected. Of course, MY reasoning for this is because I’m always on ANOTHER call. But the boss noticed that he’s never seen me on the phone, and…well, the jig may be up. Personally, I think the live answering service does a much better job than me, and that I should never be made to answer calls ever again because I’ve more important things to do. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
-Sandrine