The telephone may be one of the most powerful, efficient and cost-effective business tools you have at your disposal. If things start out badly on the phone, they may never progress beyond the first call. Whether you use the phone for customer service or for sales calls as part of a telemarketing strategy, telephone manners and etiquette are critical components of a professional image.

Through experience, you'll develop your own telephone style. You'll also find customers and prospects responding positively when you and your employees smile, listen and show personal interest!

The following tips will help you use your "telephone tool" to its fullest:

• Smile when you're on the phone; your customers will hear it!

• Answer the phone pleasantly and maintain a pleasant demeanor while on the phone.

•Never answer the phone with food in your mouth or try to eat quietly while talking. Drinking, chewing gum or sucking on a mint are amplified over telephone lines.

• Return all phone calls within 48 hours.

• When you place a call that you know might be lengthy, ask if it's a good time to talk before you dive into your spiel.

• Know what you want to say before making an important call. Practice the words out loud until they feel comfortable.

• Don't read from a script during a call. Instead either memorize your script as an actor would or use "thought starters" such as a word or two on index cards to guide you from one idea to another.

• Make a telephone appointment when you want to have a focused, longer (15 or more minutes) conversation with someone who is normally busy.

• Don't do things such as open mail, flip through the newspaper or do paperwork while on the phone. The person you're talking with will know you're distracted.

• Listen and respond to the person on the other end of the line. When you focus on them rather than on what you're going to say next, the phone call becomes much more conversational.

• When you're doing a lot of telephone work, energize yourself after every hour.