Leading tele-conferences and trainings I hear all kinds of things. People talking, disciplining their children, ordering Starbucks, eating dinner - it is like the poor cell phone etiquette.
One thing that works well on those tele-conferences is the ability to mute the call. This technology is a great tool and we are still in the early days of using this.

When you get your first professional job, the boss normally walks you through the basic ground rules - do this, don’t do that, never say this, etc…

In sales, we’ve all had someone show us the ropes of meeting with a customer - there’s a long list of do’s and don’ts there!

Conference calls are becoming more and more common in sales situations as are webinars and web demos. Unfortunately, they’re not so common that people get primers on how to behave professionally.

My experience is that most people just really don’t understand the technology involved and just don’t know that others can hear them at various times…

As such, I’ve found its a good idea to start off by going over the ground rules. You probably review the agenda for the meeting already. Just add to that a few points on muting the phone and other important tips.