9 reasons your sales team needs an office phone booth (or 2)

Key takeways: 9 reasons your sales team needs an office phone booth

1. Give introverted employees the privacy they need to perform at their best

2. Muffle loud talkers

3. Contain halfalogues, which are more distracting than regular conversations

4. Convenience — phone booths are fully equipped, sitting ready for use

5. Enjoy professional-grade speech intelligibility

6. Give your team guaranteed speech privacy

7. Booths are comfortable for long calls

8. Booths block out visual distractions

9. A booth’s minimal and clutter-free environment supports concentration

Phone booths give introverted employees much-needed privacy

Sales is a confidence game. Some people feel most confident taking calls in a chatty space. Others need peace and quiet to get into the zone. Some lose their mojo completely on the open floor, hyper-aware of being listened to. A phone booth like hushPhone is a solution for the introverted type

– says Mateusz Barczyk, Senior Brand Manager, Hushoffice.

We think of salespeople as extroverted individuals with the gift of gab. But introverts shine in sales, too. Their inclination to listen gives them an edge over talkers. Of course, most introverts feel funny taking calls on the floor. A pod like hushPhone is a fix for this kind.

Survey your sales team. “What kind of environment do you prefer for sales calls?”

You’ll likely find that even the most extroverted prefers to take calls in a private space. Even the veteran employee — totally unfazed by the occasional fumble — likely prefers to make those fumbles in private rather than in public beside peers.

Booths and phone pods muffle loud talkers

Some people are blessed with a loud voice. Great for projecting clearly but problematic in an open space, as it’s nearly impossible to tune out booming sound. A solution is to give loud-talking employees private phone booths to take their calls.

In a pod, employees can project loudly without disrupting others.

With the assurance of soundproofing, loud talkers will be able to let it rip, so to speak, and get loud and proud in the pod as they want. Their infectious passion for the product can be appropriately unbridled in a pod.

Phone booths contain halfalogues

Which are more distracting than regular conversations. Yup. Halfologues — an awesome modern irritant. The half of a phone conversation heard when within earshot of someone taking a call. Exceptionally intrusive. Why?

When our brain hears only half of a conversation, it compulsively guesses at the other half.

It’s a curious organ that wants to know the full picture. It’s actually harder to tune out conversations we’re only hearing half of — science proves this phenomenon. Booths help by trapping halfalogues for good, preventing them from seeping out onto the floor. 

Phone booth office pods are extraordinarily convenient

They’re fully equipped, sitting ready for use. Take hushPhone. With a power module, a laptop table, and a shelf. Lights and ventilation both motion-activated; stepping into the booth fires it right up. You can take a call at a moment’s notice. A tremendous freedom for those who get call-backs at random.

HushPhone is a premium private call environment at the ready

– lends Mateusz Barczyk, Senior Brand Manager, Hushoffice.

Lure your team back to the office with acoustic phone booths.

Did employees complain of office noise pre-2020? Lack of adequate call spaces? Maybe your sales team isn’t thrilled about returning to the office for one or both of these reasons. Call booths like hushPhone are the answer to such issues.

Have more of your team together more regularly.

As a result, you’ll be tapping into the special opportunities that come with being together more often. Say, random collaboration and raw team bonding.

Acoustic phone booths = professional speech intelligibility

What is speech intelligibility? How well someone can be understood when they’re speaking.

When an employee takes a call on a noisy floor, their speech is muddied by background noise.

Thus, the receiving end of the line — the prospect — has a harder time making out your employee’s words.

Booths help by blocking out said office noise.

And subsequently maximizing speech intelligibility. By blocking out said noise, phone booths make it easy for your employee to hear every word of the prospect, too. In short, telephone booths and pods boost speech intelligibility for both ends of the line.

It’s imperative that a prospect clearly hears every word of the pitch lest they get frustrated or lose interest. Likewise, it’s imperative that the employee clearly hear every word of the prospect’s responses

– adds Mateusz Barczyk, Senior Brand Manager, Hushoffice.

This is especially so on calls that necessitate nuance. Say the prospect has sophisticated reservations, or they’re particularly emotional. Your employee must catch every little hint to redirect instinctively as needed.

A good salesperson reacts intelligently to the customer’s emotion.

Changes in pace of speech and tonal inflections are the stuff of it. However subtle, they’re stellar indicators of where a person is at emotionally. One must, of course, hear such subtleties in order to respond to them accordingly. This is where a premium acoustic call space like hushPhone helps.

Class B phone booths give you guaranteed speech privacy

Look for office phone booths engineered to the Class B standard per ISO 23351-1:2020. This rating (and above) guarantees speech privacy.

Speech privacy is non-negotiable.

With guaranteed speech privacy, employees don’t have to worry about colleagues overhearing sensitive or confidential details of their calls. Read more on this topic: Office acoustics. STC? NIC? ISO 23351-1:2020? Acoustic partition and office pod ratings explained.

Office privacy phone booths are comfortable for long calls

Comfort bolsters presence. That, and a positive attitude. Sales is, of course, a highly emotional exchange because it involves both money and trust. A positive attitude is a necessary foundation for success, helping anyone stay on an even keel through challenging discussions.

HushPhone is about as comfortable as it gets.

An armrest to lean on, allowing some postural variation throughout your call. Spacious, too. Enough room for shuffling around, shifting between feet periodically. Frequent movement is wonderful during sales calls as it helps release nervous energy.

HushPhone’s spaciousness gives ample room to “talk with your hands.”

A helpful, underappreciated habit proven to lighten the cognitive load!

Hand gestures actually help us articulate what’s in our mind more lucidly.

They assist us in forming clearer thoughts and using stronger language. The beauty here: the prospect doesn’t even need to see body language to be moved — they’ll feel the power through your employee’s voice alone when it’s buttressed by natural body language.

Note: a standing pod is ideal for calls.

Standing keeps you engaged, thinking on your feet as the conversation unfolds. It helps you literally embody your enthusiasm for the pitch — your belief in the solution’s value — both detectable via voice. It makes a dull and droning tone bright and dynamic.

Private phone booths block out visual distractions

Linking pain points and value props. Attentively listening. Quickly recalling facts and stories to build the business case. Such functions are facets of strong calls. All of them require undivided attention. Phone pods help by blocking out distractions, both acoustic and visual.

When you take a call on the open floor, any number of things are happening around you.

Work friends are excitedly sharing details on their weekend plans. The marketing team is fervently fine-tuning their core persona on the rolling whiteboard. The app dev team is loudly spitballing next steps on their latest piece of code. So on and so forth.

When you take a call in a pod, only one thing is happening: the conversation.

It’s almost like the office disappears when you enter a pod like hushPhone. Chit-chat is made a distant murmur. Cellular pings dissipate. Tasks other than the call at hand fade out of focus. HushPhone shuts out all the noise (both figurative and literal noise).

Phone pods are minimal & clutter-free, for concentration

We’re living in the age of digital distraction. But multitasking is a nasty habit, reducing productivity by as much as 40%. It’s super problematic on calls wherein each sentence can either clarify or confuse, build trust or break it.

A distracted brain won’t build rapport or maintain conversational flow as well.

It’s bound to miss key information and won’t read between the lines as masterfully. Presence is a superpower! But it’s effectively turned off when attention is split.

Personal phone booths help break the habit of distractedness.

How? Simple. By shutting out the world beyond for the duration of each call. It’s much easier to stop your mind from wandering when you’re cocooned in a devoted call space — a space that’s dedicated to the call and the call alone.

In sum, phone booths allow people to get fully into their element.

The mark of a good salesperson: they make others feel at ease. But in order to make others feel at ease, one must feel at ease themself. An essential support is their environment, or immediate workspace.

Confidence flows when you’re at home in your space.

A sense of control is helpful — when you can tweak your space to your liking (its brightness and ventilation in a phone pod like hushPhone, for instance), you can claim the space as your own.

Acoustic privacy is an important piece of the puzzle, too.

Though the rare human likes background noise on calls, most prefer a serene soundscape. In other words, quiet. Acoustic distractions cause anxiety, taking anyone out of the “now” and into others’ chaos. Quiet, on the other, is a soundtrack supportive of focus.

Pods work because they give employees an array of essential benefits.

Quality acoustics. Control over one’s environment. A personal, private workspace. They’re an excellent flexible workaround for noisy open office spaces that take a lot of calls.

Summarized: 9 reasons your sales team needs an office phone booth

1. Give introverted employees the privacy they need to perform at their best

2. Muffle loud talkers

3. Contain halfalogues, which are more distracting than regular conversations

4. Convenience — phone booths are fully equipped, sitting ready for use

5. Enjoy professional-grade speech intelligibility

6. Give your team guaranteed speech privacy

7. Booths are comfortable for long calls

8. Booths block out visual distractions

9. A booth’s minimal and clutter-free environment supports concentration

Office phone booths – frequently asked questions

What’s an office phone booth?

An office phone booth (or phone pod) is an acoustic booth for private calls in the office. It’s carefully engineered to block out distracting noise, thus enhancing speech intelligibility for both the call taker and the call receiver. It also contains noise, so users inside enjoy privacy on their call.

What are office phone booths?

Office phone booths, or phone pods, are soundproof mobile cabins for private calls. HushPhone is a premium version — with retractable casters, a light weight, and leveling feet, making it relocatable by push.

Are phone booths soundproof?

Phone booths are finely soundproofed for optimal comfort and maximum productivity. They’re pleasantly quiet, allowing about 40dB of sound to penetrate their space. Why 40dB? 40dB is the best volume for focus. 40dB also feels natural rather than harshly quiet. It’s peaceful as a trickling stream.