Rules of Etiquette for Phone Skills

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 413.

Read the text below, summarize it and present your summary to the class.

Your company image is everything - it can make or break your success as well as your business reputation. The telephone is the first point of contact for your customers, applicants, clients and vendors. Consequently, your receptionist, secretary or customer service representative should demonstrate professionalism during every telephone call.

Your business should have a formal greeting, and for some businesses, a scripted version for answering telephone calls. A businesslike greeting includes a "good morning" or "good afternoon" followed by the name of the business and the name of the department or the person answering the call. For example, "Good morning, Business Communication Central, Susan Martin is speaking. How may I direct your call?" Experienced receptionists, secretaries or call-takers are accustomed to answering business phones and can script a greeting that's both pleasant and professional.

Callers don't like to wait too long for the phone to be answered, otherwise they may assume your company is closed for the day or that you're too busy to tend to customers' needs. As you set guidelines for answering calls, make it your company's goal to answer telephone calls by the third ring.

Don't answer telephone calls when you're chewing or drinking.

Unhappy clients have been known to take out their frustrations on the first person they encounter when they call to complain about a product or service. The key to maintaining excellent customer service is to refrain from responding in-kind to a rude customer. Providing training on conflict resolution and interactions with irate customers is an effective method to providing call-takers with solutions on how to handle disgruntled callers.

Transcribing messages is a critical aspect of professional telephone etiquette. A complete phone message should include the caller's name, the person he is calling, a briefly stated reason for the call and a number where the caller can be reached. This goes for voice-mail messages and written messages. If you're leaving a message for someone, follow similar guidelines. Always speak clearly and slowly when you're recording numbers on a voice-mail greeting, and repeat the number so you give the listener a chance to jot down the number. (http://smallbusiness.chron.com/rules-etiquette-phone-skills-workplace)