Telephone Etiquette

Tuesday, 26 July 2011 Posted by Encore TeleSolutions Category Services

So your company has spent considerable time and effort building an advertising campaign to get potential customers to contact your business. Your telephone number is clearly positioned where the reader can find it in all of your ads. You may have even purchased a toll-free number or a number that spells your company’s name or tagline alphanumerically. Now wouldn’t all this effort be wasted if your company’s receptionist answered the phone: “Whatya want”?
How we answer a telephone call can make a huge difference for our business. Use good telephone etiquette to give callers a better experience and leave a more positive impression of your business.
Tips for Telephone Etiquette

Always be courteous. When answering the phone, identify yourself and your organization with a well enunciated and cheerful voice. There is nothing worse than hearing someone answer with a swift slurry of words that are indistinguishable. “Sorry who am I speaking with”? Don’t eat or drink during a telephone conversation and focus on the person at the other end of the telephone, not someone else in the room. Use a note pad to write a message so as not to interrupt others’ telephone conversations. If you are taking a message, it is always a good habit to repeat the information back to verify that you have taken down the information correctly. Only promise to deliver the message; you can’t guarantee that someone else will return a call.
	Always ask if the other party if they are able to hold. Getting put on hold without warning can be very frustrating. This also is true for speakerphone, always ask permission. Also with speakerphone, you never know who may be listening in so some people may have a preference not to use speakerphone at all.
Everyone and anyone working for the company must be prepared to field any and every caller's needs. If an employee doesn’t know the answer they can ask someone else at their organization for help. If you are making a cold call to someone with a gender-neutral name, such as Pat or Chris, try to find out their gender before making the call. Calling a man she or trying to avoid gender-specific language in a conversation can be awkward.
Tips for Teleconferencing

Take a trial run and make sure you know how to use the teleconferencing software/service in advance of the meeting. Take turns talking and leave pauses to allow for delayed responses due to any lag in the connection. Just like any other communication media, focus on the people in the meeting and don’t text or email unless it is relevant to the meeting.
Source: http://www.roberthalf.us/businessetiquette 10 things never to say on a business call http://officeskills.org/telephone_etiquette.html

Tags: etiquette, business communication, telephone etiquette, tips for teleconferencing, tips for telephone etiquette

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