One
of the very first classes we taught at Community Business
College almost 18 years ago was proper phone techniques.
Why?
It might seem so obvious how to handle phones that people don’t even need to
think twice about it?
But,
that’s part of the problem – phones have become so ubiquitous (one of our Words
Of The Day), that they’re taken for
granted and almost seem to drift into the background of everyday life. That
means that a lot of common sense can be ignored, especially in today’s business
environment.
We
taught the class because employers told us that one of their greatest pet
peeves is when a potential customer is turned away because of a louse phone
call experience.
Is
it still relevant? Sure is. We just posted today’s Frank and Ernest
cartoon about phone messages on our one of our Pinterest boards.
So
here are the Community Business College Top 10 Tips for Presenting a Professional
Phone Image.
1. Speak Clearly and Slowly. Because speaking
on the phone has become second nature, it’s easy to end up with words that run
together. Speaking a bit slower than you usually do is a good trick top help
you contemplate the words you are saying and help your listener absorb your
meaning. Remember, too, that now some voice mail
systems are transcribing what you say and sending it to the recipient via
e-mail. Computers are notorious for switching words that sound alike. You don’t
want to ask someone to “make copies” and end up having them think they have to “make
coffees.”
2. Listen Carefully. The ability to
listen is always a valuable skill but even more soon the phone. The secret
trick here is to repeat information back to the other speaker when they ask you
questions or when you are taking a message. Not only does it mean the message
is clearer, but you’ll sound smarter to the person on the other end of the line.
3. Don’t Get Distracted. This tip is a corollary
to #2. It’s easy to think of phone calls as less important than a personal
visit and to start doing other things while the person is talking. Some cell
phones these days let you play games. Avoid this temptation. The mind cannot
have two masters: it will love one and despise the other with sometimes embarrassing
results (i.e. “huh? What did you just say…I missed it”).
4. Keep Your Listener In The Loop. Need to place callers
on hold? Ask first. Let them know why and what you are doing. If the hold is
longer than you thought, pick up the phone and keep the caller informed. If the
hold goes on longer, don’t hesitate to inform your caller and give the choice
of holding longer or receiving a call back. The trick is to think of it this way – how long
would you care to hold if you were on the other end. The Golden Rule works on
the phone as well.
5. Be Concise. Keep phone
calls brief and to the point. Try not to get side tracked. Each phone call,
whether you are the caller or the receiver, has a point. Try to always come
back to the point to make sure the business gets done. This can also be a
timesaver because you won’t need as many follow-up calls to cover what you
missed in the first call. The trick is to jot down the goals of the call and
keep referring to that note as the phone call progresses.
Office
machines may one day make phone calls and message obsolete but there are still
millions of phone calls to take place before that happens.
Want
to learn more? Take an office
skills class from a professional instructor. Or brush up on a quick customer
service phone skills course. Classes
are now online for the convenience of our students, especially working
adults with busy schedules.
