How to make a good impression on the telephone
Often, the only impression a customer or client gains of your organisation is the one generated by your staff on the telephone. Research has shown that poor telephone etiquette can result in poor public relations and millions of dollars in lost revenue. Having invested large sums of money in equipment to improve communications with customers, some organisations simply forget to invest in the human skills. First, consider the following advice...
1. Know what really frustrates your callers.
Organisations have suffered in recent years through staff failure to use the telephone appropriately. Recent research reveals that the main frustrations customers or clients experience today in dealing with organisations by telephone are these:
- taking too long to answer
- being put 'on hold' and forgotten
- being transferred and having to repeat the inquiry
- being answered by voice mail and other 'machines'
- not having calls returned
- music on hold, rudeness, perceived indifference, not getting to the point...
If you can do something about these frustrations, then you'll restore the telephone to a position as your organisation's most valuable communications tool.
2. Be familiar with new technology.
First make sure you and your staff become expert in dealing with the equipment. If you have the technology, it's foolish not to be fully familiar with the advantages it can provide. Do you know how to:
- transfer a call
- park a call
- discern a distinctive ring tone
- redirect calls in your absence
- place calls on hold
- set up 'automatic callback'
- operate the PABX
- use the conference phone facility?
Don't test your caller's patience while you bumble your way through the technology at your end.
3. Pick up the handset - consciously.
Remember the saying: 'You never get a second chance to make a first impression'. So be conscious of that advice whenever you pick up the phone. Consider these pointers:
- Answer promptly. If possible, pick up the handset before the third ring ends.
- Quickly finish off any office conversation before lifting the handset so that the caller doesn't hear any irrelevant discussion.
- Put a smile in your voice. It may sound silly, but your voice actually has a more pleasant tone when you're smiling. So, answer the phone with a smile.
- When answering, say 'Good morning’ or ‘Good afternoon', then identify your organisation and yourself.
