Persons who are courteous, helpful
and friendly and in addition possess good telephone skills can increase
customer satisfaction and are a great asset to any business. Hence, telephone skills and telephone
etiquette are very important for everyone’s career.
TWO TYPES OF TELEPHONE TALKS:
1) Personal
2) Professional
Possessing Telephone skills
and applying them in your professional and personal life, enhances your
inter-personal communication and relationship with others.
COMPARISON BETWEEN PERSONAL
AND PROFESSIONAL TELEPHONE TALKS:
Personal Telephone Talks: -
1.
Not bound by any
rules.
2.
Not purpose is
required to call.
3.
No introduction
required.
4.
No greetings
required (but preferred).
5.
Time constraints
not seriously observed (but preferred).
6.
Voice modulation
is not observed (but preferred).
Professional Telephone Talks:
-
1.
Bound by rules.
2.
Some purpose is
required to call.
3.
Introduction
required.
4.
Greetings
required.
5.
Time constraints
are to be considered.
6.
Voice modulation
is required for effective communication.
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE TELEPHONE SKILLS
During the call:
· Greetings: Say “good morning” or “good afternoon” or the
appropriate one.
· Identify
yourself: Say your name and if possible,
company’s name, too. If you just say
‘hello’ and don’t say your name, the caller won’t understand who you are. It is very important to know the correct
spelling or pronunciation (in case of foreign names) to be able to contact the
person when required.
·
Purpose of the
call: Explain the purpose of the call.
·
Ask if he/she
could spare the time: If not, fix up
another suitable time.
· Be friendly: Express your friendliness with a clear smile
and friendly voice.
· Be concise: Don’t explain the whole story. Their time is as valuable as yours, too.
·
Ending the
call: Thank the other person for having
spared his/her time for the call and say, “have a nice day”, or “have a nice
weekend”, or “Thank you very much for your business with us, Mr. Smith”.
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE
CONVERSATION:
Make notes of all
the points you want to talk before going for a telephone conversation.Be prepared with
the message to leave in the ‘Voice Mail” or to pass on to others in case the
desired person is not available to take your call.
· You have to be a
much better listener and your concentration level has to be higher during a
telephone talk than in person because you don’t see the other person
physically.
· Make a telephone
appointment when you want to talk for 15 or more minutes or to discuss some
serious and important matter.
· Listen carefully
and respond to the person appropriately.
Don’t do any other activity, which distracts your attention from the
talk.
TIPS FOR TELEPHONE ETIQUETTE
When redirecting the call:
If you are not the person whom the caller wants to talk to, ask the caller, “Will
you please stay on the line while I connect your call to the appropriate
person?” Don’t directly connect without
saying anything.
·
When placing the
caller on hold:
If you want to place the
caller on hold ask for permission. “May
I put you on hold?” If it is likely to take more time to get back to the caller
on hold, tell the caller that you would call him/her back.
·
When eating:
Never answer the phone with
food in your mouth. At least, stop
eating for a while. The sounds of
drinking and eating will sound irritating to the caller.
·
Sneezing and
coughing:
Don’t sneeze and cough over
or near the telephone microphone. If you
have to do it, close the mike with your hand.
These sounds may disturb you but irritates the other person.
·
Returning a call:
Return all the business calls
within 48hours and a private call in 24 hours.
· Neither low voice
nor loud voice:
If you speak in low voice,
others cannot hear properly. Hence speak
moderately without being too loud.
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