Having worked remotely over the last decade, I’ve probably done more phone calls than most professionals.
Compared to video calls, phone calls can be much trickier to end well. Why? When there’s zero nonverbal language, it’s easy for awkward moments to happen.
So how can you ensure a smooth landing?
Just like this lil’ fella…
After thousands of calls, here’s what I’ve learned:
Thank them for their time
It’s much more effective to express appreciation in person — a smile often is enough. Thankfully, you don’t have to perform verbal acrobatics over the phone.
This can be as simple as saying: “Thanks for taking the time to talk today.” If they shared a particularly insightful idea or opinion, you could mention that too.
Recap the conversation
By doing a summary of what’s been said, you demonstrate your listening and understanding. This also helps you transition to ending the call.
To keep the recap brief, mention 1-2 things that you found important or interesting. And if there are next steps that you/they need to take, repeat them and confirm that you’re both on the same page.
Ask if they have anything else to say/ask.
Here’s another way to gracefully wrap up the call: make space for their final comments and/or questions. This has the added benefit of pre-empting conflict (if they didn’t feel comfortable bringing something up earlier.) You could say…
- “Before we end, do you have any other questions?”
- “Anything else that we should discuss?”
- “Is there anything else that you would like to share?”
- “How else can I support you today?”
Talk about your post-call plans
This signals that the conversation is ending, and also helps you get to know more about each other. Depending on the context, here’s what you could say:
- “What’re you up to after this?”
- “When’s your next call?”
- “I’m [doing a specific activity/meeting someone] after the call. How about you?”
How to politely say “time’s up”
This is especially helpful when you’re between meetings and you don’t want to be rude or abrupt. Just say one of the following:
- “Looks like we are at the end of the call…”
- “Looks like we are out of time…”
- “Alright, we are at the hour mark…” (replace hour with any other duration)
You could also say any of these phrases (save for #4):
12 simple phrases to end a conversation politely
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