Intuitive Staffing and Consulting

Tools for the successful Reader

The effort it takes to make this work will be the same no matter what you do in life. Think of it like farming. 1) On your first day the field has not even been plowed. Plow the field ... log in very consistently. Let them see your face regularly (the callers are looking for a consistent counselor - a best friend). Pick a time of day and log in 5 or 6 days a week at the same time every day - just like going out to the fields. 2) Get your seeds in the ground (give great readings - they come slow at first - you're cultivating). After a few days you move up in the queue - calls come faster. 3) Irrigate and pull weeds (we constantly send out thank you notes on your behalf, use language encouraging future calls). After a couple of weeks you start getting more and more repeat callers (you're well up in the queue - calls come in much faster and you're harvesting now). 4) At that point it really is only about not ignoring your crop. Stick with it and enjoy the bounty of your cultivation.

How do we greet the Callers? It is often brought to my attention the number of readers who answer their lines with something like "How can I help you", "What can I do for you" or "What's your question". This is very ineffective. You give up control of the call. They ask a single question, get a single answer and are gone.

It is Strongly Suggested - (just short of insisted upon) - that we greet the callers with friendliness, enthusiasm, gratitude and thankfulness that they called. "Hello! Thank you for calling. My name is ***, What's your name?" ... "How are you feeling today?" ... "I'd like to start you out with a general reading ... is there something you'd like me to look for? ... etc."

A lack luster greeting will lead to a lack luster reading. The very first impression that callers hear in your voice leads them to trust you and opens them to the process.

First of all you have to log in! Don't stop at the end of each cycle losing valuable days! Log in every day at the same time and for the same amount of time. An hour at a sitting won't do you any good. Plan on logging in at least 3 hours to a session. Don't try to work this just over bankers hours - all the bankers are at work! The middle of the day is the slowest part of the day. You have to go where the customers are and that is in the mornings and late afternoons/evenings until late night. If you wish to work over the middle of the day, expect to be in competition with many other readers who are working the "convenient hours" - those hours when most of the callers are at work! Callers are calling around family and work schedules.

Where is competition for calls the fiercest? Mid days and towards the end of any pay cycle. Most readers wake up late, play around in the morning and start their day sometime after 10 am - put in a half effort until around 4 pm then take a long diner break coming back for a couple of hours in the evening. Play to the opposite. Start your days early, take care of other business mid afternoon, get back in early evening and work until bed time. A lot of readers take the first couple of days of any pay cycle off then try to play catch up the remainder of the cycle coming to near panic as the end of the cycle approaches - then they abruptly stop logging in. A regular rhythmic schedule - same times every day is the sanest, healthiest, most productive thing you can accomplish. A regular working schedule can act as an anchor in an otherwise chaotic life.

Where are the customers? Customers call around work and family schedules. They call before work, after work, late night and randomly over the weekend - exactly the opposite of when most readers log in.

What do the callers really want? First and most important is they want to feel good about themselves. They want to know somebody cares. They want to hear a friendly voice and they want someone to listen to them. They want to feel they were right and others were wrong. They want to rehearse their argument with you, indulge their fantasy with you. And they want to touch the mystery. If they feel comfortable with you and feel you have insight into them, even if they feel you share their pain they will want to talk it out. For this reason, always watch for the moment when a caller wants to talk.

Your callers are stuck in a life situation and either do not see a path out that saves their self esteem or have developed an irrational belief into such a huge mental structure that they filter their entire sense of self through it. Without this belief structure they would have no sense of self. You cannot move them out of this kind of situation unless you replace it with healthy thoughts and healthy self images first. This takes time. Give them affirmations to practice and support them with words of encouragement. Do not judge. They don't want to own the mistakes they've made. Never place the blame for your callers situation on them. Only after you've created a deep rapport with your caller can you begin to suggest that they might have taken a different path in the past. Even so, focusing on the past is like walking backwards and results in being blind sided by everyday matters. Eventually, you can help them replace a dysfunctional belief with one that will help them walk forward in life. This takes time, tolerance and compassion.

We are spiritual people and we honor the traditions and experiences that led us to this place in this time to do this work. We value our tools and in reverence value the roles we play to pass along the messages we receive for our callers. Here's the shocker: True Divination is maybe only 5 to 10 percent of what we do on the psychic lines. Our real value to these customers is as non-vested, nonjudgmental listeners to their stories.

Keep control of the call but respect when the caller needs to speak uninterrupted. Foster confidence by showing you are grateful they called you. Use their first name often. Give out pleasant vibes, friendliness, compassion and empathy so the caller wants to continue the reading and call you back for more. This is a professional service so we need to act professionally.

You can do this by being friendly and showing that you care - let your compassion and empathy flow through your voice and gentle touch.

Learn and Practice Complete Listening. Avoid interjecting / interrupting and talking over your caller. Save your insight for until they have completely finished speaking ... your insight will ripen. Give a brief pause before you respond - it gives the impression that you really listened and they may start talking again! We cannot hear the messages our caller needs to hear if we are not listening. Don't feel like you need to be "giving a reading" 100 percent of the time. That is not the true value of the call. Don't argue with your callers. Be confident, not arrogant and never "fish" for answers. There is a point in most good readings where it becomes conversational but always defer to the customer. Don't ask if what you are saying is right or not, you are the psychic - assume you are. Don't talk about yourself ... talk about them. We are here for them - not they for us.

How do you create a busy psychic line?

• AVERAGE Length of Calls and Callbacks. The heaviest weight to your place in line is average. Some systems add callbacks and customer reviews. Psychic Lines are in the business of billable minutes. If a reader consistently has short calls then the companies who pay to make the phone ring consider their advertising dollars wasted. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that giving a quick answer is helping the caller. Never come to a point where you are asking 'Is there anything else I can do for you?' Keep reading and let the customer decide when they are done. Be certain you know what any system considers a 'keeper average call length'. Keep track of your minutes and divide by the number of calls on a running basis.
  
  
• CALLBACKS. Every caller can become a long term relationship. The more call backs you have the busier your line will be. The average customer to psychic lines calls 5 times a week! They should be calling YOU! Give them reasons to call! Offer them an affirmation to practice over night and have them call you back the next day to see what has changed. Florence Scovel Shinn has a wonderful list of affirmations for every condition. You can find them at Florence-Sovel-Shinn.com. It's perfectly acceptable to set appointments and the more people that commit to calling you back, the more will. Treat each caller as though you will be friends for life. It's so important to encourage future readings by being friendly and engaging and letting them know you are always there when they need you. The customers by and large really want one thing - to feel good about themselves. If you make them feel good about themselves they will come back over and over again for your loving energy. When you've made a good connection with someone, it is acceptable to ask that they leave you a good review on the web site.

All companies have a 0 tolerance policy for readers who exchange direct contact information of any kind with the callers. I have seen very good readers blacklisted for exchanging email address or just giving out web addresses that can lead back to the reader. Just don't do it. In a few instances where the reader was found "walking" the customer to their own businesses or to other lines the company refused to pay the reader for time accrued.

Can you be in danger of loosing your extension? Well, realistically it can happen. All of the spirituality in this business comes from the bottom up. On the top end it's about business survival so their concerns for performance are quite real. System wide call averages are generally well over 20 minutes per call and a keeper call back percentage is somewhere over 40 percent. If you aren't hitting these marks search for reasons why. Try different things. Are you done with the caller after answering a question? Are you talking over you caller? Are you not listening close enough to them? Are you not encouraging future readings? Is your opening bland and ineffective? How is your bed side manner? Are you that energy they want to share their deepest secrets, fears and fantasies with?

Bring in the Magic. "You can't get what you want until you know what you want" Set goals for each day and each week. Set goals for calls in advance of the calls. This makes for a self-fulfilling prophecy. Focus of intention will materialize. There is a whole spectrum of efforts and intents from the body of readers at large. Each different type of reader seems to share a particular vibe - from driven to droven, from effervescent to flat, from magical to muggle. We each choose what level of intent we bring to anything. Intend to succeed and follow up with your intentions.

Keep the fire alive! It's very typical for readers to loose steam after a couple of weeks of work. Don't let this happen to you! Stay fresh and enthusiastic. Work with a regular schedule and refuse to become complacent in your readings. You get out of this what you bring to it. If you bring a lack luster effort to the line then that is what you will receive in return. We have all noticed that the callers reflect the readers. If you bring enthusiasm, compassion and empathy to the line you will receive the same from your callers.

Practice your rituals. A truly spiritual person knows that every event on and off line is sacred. Most readers are good at giving thanks and opening themselves to divination before they start. Most readers are also terrible about closing the process when they are done. As important as opening the door is closing it behind you. Failure to do so inevitably results in unwanted energies lingering after work. These can cause all manner of dis-ease. The rituals are there for a reason - don't ignore them.

Remember, It's not your stuff. Stay peaceful and centered and close each day completely by cutting cords - blessing and releasing everyone you speak with. They will be back tomorrow to start the whole thing over again from scratch.

Given enough time and an honest effort everyone can do very well with these lines. All it takes is to approach the work seriously and consistently, treat each and every customer with respect and follow up with yourself and your callers. If you plant a seed in the ground and don't water it for many days chances are it will not sprout. A growing thing ... like a flower or your extension or your customer needs nurturing and attention. The moment you take a step forward, the universe moves in your direction. The Universe is on your side! The Universe always says YES! Every word is an affirmation.

Don't believe you can't do this. Don't sell yourself short. Refuse to agree with yourself and the Universe to fail.