03/ 10/ 2006
by Charles R. McConnell
When someone calls your company, it could represent a potential customer’s first contact with your business. How your employees receive the caller can determine whether he or she becomes a real customer. If the caller is a present customer with a problem, complaint or question, it can determine whether he or she remains a customer.
How you answer telephone calls says a lot about your business. An employee answering the phone may express an affirmative, helpful attitude or convey an I-don't-really-care one. Callers frequently mirror the treatment they receive; if you sound friendly, your callers will usually respond in kind.
Today, telephone courtesy and helpfulness are more important then ever. Businesses regularly put callers through multi-step automated response systems fraught with delays and musical interludes. By the time they've reached a human voice, they've experienced considerable frustration. After four or five levels of “please press this or that,” many callers are extremely sensitive to the way in which a human voice greets them. Whether employees are picking up the phone following an automated response or answering a direct line, the call becomes an important customer-relations matter once they answer.
Anyone who regularly answers company telephones could benefit from attending a telephone etiquette workshop. This is especially important for receptionists, administrative assistants and sales or customer service personnel who are the first point of contact for incoming calls. If specific training in telephone technique is unavailable or impractical, employees should, at the very least, receive guidelines for telephone conduct.
Some of these might include:
- Answering. Answer within three rings, if possible, and apologize for any delay. Identify yourself and your position and ask how you can help. If the caller leaves his or her name, repeat it once to make sure you heard it correctly. If a name isn't offered, politely ask for it.
- Using “hold.” Frustrated callers complain frequently about feeling virtually abandoned while left on “hold.” If there’s going to be a delay reaching the party or extension requested, offer the caller a choice of waiting or being called back. When putting a caller on “hold,” check back every half-minute or so and repeat the call-back option.
- Screening calls. If it’s necessary to screen calls, do so politely and tactfully. Learn which callers should be put through at once and which ones shouldn't. Find out to whom you should refer particular kinds of questions or problems.
- Transferring calls. Being transferred from one extension to another frequently irritates callers, so you should precede the transfer with a brief explanation of why you're doing it. In case of an accidental disconnect, give the caller the name, title and extension of the person to whom you are transferring the call. Remain on the line until the new connection is made.
- Taking messages. Use message slips or a call log to note the following: the caller’s name, organization (if any), telephone number, reason for calling and date and time of the call. As necessary, note whether the message sounded urgent, or whether the caller seemed angry or upset.
- Ending a conversation. Verify key points covered and say that you were happy to be of service (or sorry you were unable to help). You want leave the caller with the impression of a friendly, helpful business representative. Finish with a polite offer to be of service again, if needed, and avoid closings like the overworked “have a nice day” or the casual “bye-bye.” Remember, there’s nothing wrong with a polite “good-bye.”
- If a caller angrily dumps upon you, just listen. Hear the person out. Let him or her vent; often the caller’s anger will dissipate after a moment or two. Take notes, doing the best you can to capture the essence of the complaint and decide to whom you might refer the caller. Above all, resist every temptation to respond to a rude, angry caller in kind. Under no circumstances should you argue; arguing will only feed the caller’s anger.
These employee telephone conduct guidelines aren't intended to take the place of a comprehensive workshop in telephone etiquette. Effective telephone etiquette is vital to every organization; it’s too easy for a stressed or uncaring employee answering the phone to lose business for the company.
