Answering Telephone Calls in a Professional Manner
Although communication services such as web chat applications, instant messaging, e-mailing and even the good old post all have their place, using the telephone is definitely still the preferred means of communication for the majority of today’s customers. Picking up the phone to speak to somebody in person is more personal, and often allows customers to get their queries and problems resolved in the quickest manner. If your line of business involves answering telephone calls in a professional manner, a polite and professional phone manner is an absolute must. We’ve put together a list of great tips to help you answer calls as professionally as possible.
Tone of Voice
When answering telephone calls to customers, it’s as important to be polite and friendly as it would be if you were speaking to them face to face. Although because you’re on the other end of a phone the customer won’t be able to see whether or not you’re smiling at them as they would in a face to face interaction, your tone of voice can give a lot away about your attitude. For this reason a motto in many professional call centres and amongst many people who answer the telephone for a living is to always ‘talk with a smile’ and make sure that your tone of voice is friendly, positive and cheerful.
Politeness
Being polite is one of the most crucial factors when it comes to answering the phone to customers. Talking over the phone can often make it easy for customers to take things that you say the wrong way, which is why it’s important to be careful how you are phrasing things and ensure that you are polite and respectful to the customer at all times. Simple things such as asking the customer how they would like to be addressed, and ensuring that you address them that way for the duration of the call can go a long way.
Listening Skills
Most of the time a customer calls a business is to resolve a problem or get an answer to a query or question, which is why good listening skills and a professional phone manner go hand in hand. When speaking to a customer over the telephone you should never interrupt or speak over them, and you should make every effort to resolve whatever the issue is that they are calling about. Another important reason why listening skills are so crucial is that if you do not pay proper attention to the customer, you may accidentally give them false information which could lead to problems. If you are unable to help your customer with their problem or query, it’s essential that you are prepared to pass them over to somebody more knowledgeable in the area who will be able to provide them with the resolution that they need.
Do you work in call centre, or take a lot of calls at your job? What are your top tips for answering the telephone in a professional manner? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.
If you’d like to find out more about call recording or call logging software please don’t hesitate to give us a call; we’d be happy to tell you everything we know – which happens to be rather a lot! Drop us a line on 0333 0022 440, or contact us. We’re here ready to help.