When a Stranger Calls

No way should your boss give your home number to clients. You need to set him or her straight immediately—and don't answer those calls

by Liz Ryan

Dear Liz,

Any advice on what to do when your boss gives your home phone number to a client?

Yours,

Jack

Dear Jack,

This is shocking. It's really inappropriate. Your boss absolutely should have asked your permission before handing over your home phone number to a client. I hope your boss at least informed you that he'd given away your number, rather than your learning about it by receiving an unexpected client call!

Either way, your boss stepped over a line by handing over your phone number, and you need to speak with him or her (we'll say "him" for simplicity) about it.

Sit down with him and say, "You know, I'm so glad that you consider me a subject-matter expert and a resource for our clients. And you know that I'm always willing to take your phone calls, especially if a matter is urgent.

"But I'm not as comfortable with clients calling me at home. If a situation is urgent and I need to speak with a client, I'd rather call the client myself than have my home phone number distributed to people I don't have personal relationships with."

With luck, your boss will understand and, at a minimum, agree to keep your number confidential from now on. Ideally, he'll go a step further and tell the client who already has your number, "You know what, Stephanie, I took a big liberty in giving you Jack's home phone number. I'm going to ask that you don't call him at home again, but rather, let us know through the usual channels [online help-request system, or whatever system your company uses] if you need support after hours."

Great client service is a wonderful thing, but it should be delivered in the context of a thoughtful and well-communicated support plan, not by one manager randomly authorizing a client to call an employee at home. You can, and you need to, gently set him straight.

If he doesn't quite get the message, and clients keep calling you at home, you can studiously avoid those calls through the magic of call screening, and say to your manager the next day, "It's a shame I missed Janet's call last night. Let's agree on how to handle these after-hours requests so that the clients aren't disappointed and YOU don't look bad."

Cheers,

Liz

Liz Ryan is an expert on the new-millennium workplace and a former Fortune 500 HR executive. She can be reached at liz@asklizryan.com.