- Business Etiquette
- Positions of the interlocutors at the negotiating table
Telephone etiquette: rules and regulations
Let's consider the norms of telephone etiquette, which are followed today by progressive companies that care about their image. If you strive to look like a professional in the eyes of your partners and clients, then compliance with the laws set out below is simply mandatory for you.
The norm is to observe telephone etiquette by every employee of the organization who:
answers incoming calls;
makes telephone calls on behalf of the company;
to which the client's call can be forwarded.
1. Watch the intonation of your voice
When communicating, people convey information to each other using three channels: “body language” (55%), intonation (38%) and words (7%). On the phone, we also convey to the interlocutor the meaning of our message using several channels, only in in this case the law of information transfer looks different. Firstly, “sign language” seems to disappear, since the interlocutor does not see us, and the remaining two channels (intonation and words) of information transmission divide 100% of the meaning of our message as follows:- Intonation - 86%;
- Words - 14%.
Your voice conveys information to your interlocutor about what kind of person you are. With your voice you not only influence perception, but often also create the mood of your interlocutor. When communicating on the phone, smile, be full of energy and enthusiasm. A smile and a positive attitude are heard in the intonation.
Don't slump in your chair or put your feet on the table while talking on the phone. When a person lies or half-sits, the angle of the diaphragm changes and the timbre of his voice changes. Therefore, the interlocutor, even without seeing you, will “hear” that you are lying down. And this is unacceptable, because the voice of a person in this position seems disinterested and complete indifference.
2. Greet the caller
If you pick up the phone while answering an outside call, then immediately say hello to the person who called. The greeting of course varies depending on the time of day, it could be " Good morning(good afternoon or good evening).”By greeting the caller, you show that his call is important to you and you are glad to see him (if this is not the case, then he should not know about it).
Don’t be like the “telephone dinosaurs” who, when they pick up the phone, say:
3. Introduce yourself over the phone
After greeting the caller, introduce yourself and name your organization. When receiving external calls, two approaches are used, the so-called “minimum” and “maximum”:
Minimum approach: Greeting + name of the organization. This is what it sounds like: “Good afternoon, publishing house “Fortochka!”
“Maximum” approach: “minimum” + the name of the person who answered the phone. This is what it sounds like: “Good afternoon, Fortochka publishing house, Marina is listening!”
Which approach to choose and use is up to you to decide. Following any of these will show callers that you and your organization are professionals.
I remember I once called one company, and they answered: “Hello.” I ask: “Tell me, is this company ABC?”, and the answer is: “Who are you?” I say: “Maybe I’m your potential client,” to which they assured me: “Our clients know us!”... and hung up.
4. Answer incoming calls after the 2nd, maximum after the 3rd ring
This is one of the laws that telephone operators, company secretaries, hotline workers and other “telephone” personnel are literally “trained” to implement. And that's why.If we pick up the phone after the first call, then the person who called gets the impression that we have nothing to do, and we were bored waiting for someone to finally call us.
Don't pick up the phone after the first ring; the few seconds you have left will allow you to take your mind off what you were doing and focus on the phone call.
If you allow the phone to ring 4, 5 or more times, then, firstly, the caller will begin to get nervous (it has been proven that people very quickly lose patience while waiting for an answer on the phone), and secondly, he will form a very “definite” opinion about our interest in him and in clients in general. Subsequently, he will no longer believe in our ability to quickly respond to his needs and problems.
5. When you call, do not say “are you concerned about...” or “are you concerned about...”
This is something like a national disease. I suspect that this comes from an excessive desire to appear polite and from a lack of self-confidence. By telling a person that you are disturbing (bothering) him, you are forming in him a certain - undesirable - attitude towards himself and his call.You are forcing him to be wary, and you yourself are asking him to treat your call as an unwanted distraction from business. Why create trouble for yourself and tell your interlocutor, “I disturbed you, disturbed your comfort and now I will pester you with my questions”?
Just say: “Good morning (Hello), Marina (Marina Shestakova) from the publishing house “Fortochka” is calling you.
6. When you call, ask if the client can speak with you.
Each person has his own to-do list, scheduled appointments, meetings, etc. In other words, when we called him, the likelihood that we pulled him away from his work is very high. This is especially true for calls to mobile phone; our interlocutor can be anywhere and be busy with anything.After introducing yourself, do not get straight to the point, first ask if the interlocutor can talk to you. By asking this question, we show the interlocutor that we are well-mannered and that we value his time. Thus, we position ourselves as a professional in his eyes and inspire respect for ourselves.
Introduce yourself + ask about the opportunity to spend time + state the purpose of the call.
Introduce yourself + state the purpose of the call + ask about the opportunity to spend time.
7. Get to the point of your call as quickly as possible.
After introducing yourself and asking for time to chat, don't waste time with pointless rhetoric and pointless questions like:So, how do you like this heat in the city?
What do you think about our Prime Minister's statement today?
Did you see on the news yesterday...?
You heard latest news about Iraq?
Talking on the phone business people strive to be concise and stay on topic. Don't annoy them by talking about this and that, tell them the purpose of your call and start a business conversation.
It is worth adding that the exception to this rule is communication by phone with clients with whom over the years collaboration you have developed warm friendships or even friendships.
8. Using the “hold” function
Almost every phone has a “hold” function, but it is designated differently, depending on the manufacturer of the device.This function allows, if necessary, to “suspend” the interlocutor on the line without disconnecting the connection. It is used every time during a conversation you need to put down the phone and isolate the interlocutor from what is happening in your room (from conversations, discussions, jokes, anecdotes of your colleagues). For example, in order to:
go to the next office for the information necessary for the interlocutor;
print the required document;
call to the phone the right person;
check something with a colleague.
By pressing the corresponding button on your phone and activating “hold”, you do not give the other person the opportunity to hear what is happening in your room. If the telephone set is connected to a telephone exchange, then during the “hold” it plays the programmed melody to your interlocutor.
There are several rules related to placing and removing an interlocutor from “hold”:
When setting up, ask if the interlocutor can wait, and explain the reason for the need to wait.
For example: “Can you wait because I need to contact accounting to answer your question?”
When withdrawing, thank the interlocutor for waiting. This step helps to dissipate the tension and nervousness that arises in anyone who is expecting. We also show the person that he is important to us and we are grateful to him for not hanging up.
If you know you'll have to wait more than one minute, don't put it on hold. Tell him that you will call him back after clarifying the information he is interested in. When waiting on the phone, even one minute seems like several, don’t give your interlocutor an extra reason to be nervous and angry.
9. If you ask a person who is absent
Do not “cut off” the caller by simply stating the fact that the person he needs is at the exhibition (on vacation, will return at the end of the week) and do not immediately hang up.After reporting the absence of the right person, make two attempts to keep the caller. Offer your help. For example: “Is there anything I can help you with?” or, “Can someone else help you?”
If the person who called does not agree to the help offered, then ask to leave a message.
It sounds like this:
What should I tell (the absent colleague)? Who called?
Let me leave (an absent colleague) a message saying you called. Introduce youreself.
10. When ending a conversation, say goodbye to your interlocutor
Notice how many people, when finishing a conversation, simply hang up without even saying goodbye.How many times has this happened to me: you call an organization and ask the person who answers the phone a question, for example: “Tell me, are you working on Saturday?” The answer is “Yes” or “No”, and the conversation ends. One day I finally called back and asked: “Why are you hanging up, I still have a question for you?” The answer was simply brilliant: “We need to speak faster!”
In a situation similar to the one described above, before saying goodbye to the caller, ask: “Can I answer any more questions?”, and only after receiving a negative answer, end the conversation. Before hanging up, say goodbye to the person, tell him everything just a simple: “Goodbye.”
11. Adapt to the speed of your interlocutor’s speech
If a person speaks slowly, this indicates that his thinking process proceeds at the same speed. This means that he carefully evaluates every word he hears and pronounces and carefully weighs the information received before making a final decision. When communicating with such people, slow down the pace of your speech slightly. Don't fool yourself into thinking that the faster you speak, the faster your interlocutors will think. Quite the contrary, if they cannot keep up with the pace of your speech, they will lose the train of your thoughts and become completely confused.A person who speaks quickly or very quickly grasps thoughts on the fly and makes decisions without much thought, perhaps even hastily. He is irritated by slowness and leisure, he is impatient and craves action. Speed up your speech when talking to these people.
Change the pace of your speech, just don’t cross the line beyond which a parody begins.
12. Do not chew, drink or smoke while talking on the phone.
If you think that by performing the actions listed above, you will hide them from your telephone interlocutor, then you are mistaken. Many times I've talked to people who thought they were camouflaging chewing or smoking without even realizing how unpleasant it sounded over the phone.One day I called a client, from whose answer it became clear to me that he was chewing. I tell him: “Bon appetit,” and he answers me: “Did you hear that?”
Put your chewing gum (cutlet, cigarette) aside.
13. Don’t apologize to your interlocutor for taking up his time.
This recommendation also applies to meetings. If you think that you have distracted your interlocutor from important matters or that you have taken away his valuable time, then do not tell him about it out loud. Having said “sorry, our meeting (conversation) has been delayed, I probably took your time,” you yourself will lead him to think that:he lost his time communicating with you;
your time is worthless;
you are not confident in yourself;
you feel guilty.
Instead of apologizing, you can thank the other person:
Thank you for finding the opportunity to meet (talk) with me.
I understand how busy you are, thank you for the time allocated for our meeting.
You show that you value him and his time, but you don't make yourself look like a "guilty supplicant."
14. Using a speakerphone (speakerphone)
Do not use speakerphone unless absolutely necessary and without warning and consent of the interlocutor. With today's technology, the client will hear the difference between communicating with you through a handset and using a “speakerphone.” Hearing that you are talking to him using a speakerphone, the client will almost immediately feel discomfort and become wary. In addition, he will draw two conclusions:Someone is listening to us.
15. Communication with secretaries
If your job involves making calls to organizations, this means that you periodically communicate with the secretaries of these organizations. Today, secretarial positions are occupied by educated and qualified people who are the “face of the company” and optimize the work of their superiors. Their opinions are listened to and they are valued quite highly as “frontline workers.”Don't insult, humiliate or underestimate them. These people often have a lot of power. They can become either your supporters or enemies, it all depends on you. Show them respect and deference, and they will return the favor.
Treat them the same way you treat your clients. Secretaries are also your clients, they influence the opinion of their management about you, your company and your product. If desired, they can present your call (fax, letter) as “another prank of an annoying idiot from a stupid company.” They can make sure your letters, faxes and Email“will not reach” the recipient. Considering this...
Build relationships with them. It doesn’t matter whether you do this with bouquets, chocolates or through your respectful attitude. Remember one thing: by winning the secretary's favor, you gain a supporter in the client's organization. In addition, no one knows which direction and in which company this person will become a manager tomorrow.
Pick up the phone no later than the fourth ring. This is one of the rules of good manners. Signalmen do not recommend picking up the handset during a call for purely technical reasons: the current in electrical circuits increases, which can damage the network and turn off the phone.
Sometimes there is poor audibility in the handset. But this doesn't mean you have to raise your voice. The opinion that if I can’t hear my interlocutor well, then he can’t hear me well and, therefore, I need to speak louder, in the case of a telephone, is erroneous. If your hearing is poor, you should not raise your voice yourself, but ask your interlocutor to speak louder and ask how he hears you.
When you pick up the phone, identify your agency, department, and your position.
When answering a call, you should always introduce yourself. People want to know who they are talking to. This, in addition, creates an atmosphere of trust and helps to better understand the interlocutor. Find a friendly formula that you like (how you would like to be answered).
When making frequent calls or in a hurry, they usually call the last name with the addition of the word “listening” (“Ivanova is listening))) or only the name of the institution or department is indicated: “Reception of the department of such and such...”.
In all of the above cases, the subscriber must know who he is talking to or at least where he is. If an error occurs when dialing a number, the misunderstanding will be immediately clarified and will not result in loss of time to clarify it.
¦ If you need to interrupt a conversation to answer another call, ask your interlocutor for permission to do so.
Agreeing on the following telephone conversation, you should clarify what time is convenient for the interlocutor.
If you're asked a question that you don't know the answer to, the best answer is something like this: " Good question. May I clarify for you and call you back?"
Don't give vent to your negative emotions. It is not your interlocutor’s fault that perhaps a couple of minutes before you had an unpleasant conversation with someone or you have personal problems.
Do not do it
Do not pick up the phone for a long time.
Start a conversation with "Hello", "Yes" and "Speaking"
Asking: "Can I help you?"
Have two conversations at the same time
Leave the phone unattended, at least for a short time and occupy it for a long time, sounding voice of the telephone interlocutor
Use scraps of paper and calendar sheets for notes.
Say: “Everyone is having lunch,” “No one is here,” “Call me back.”
Pick up the phone before the fourth ring.
Introduce yourself and name your department and your position
Ask: "How can I help you?"
Concentrate on one conversation; listen attentively
Offer to call back if time is needed to clarify details
Use phone call forms or a business notepad
8. Write down the information and inform the subscriber that they will call him back.
Telephone calls often disrupt the rhythm of work, break up a manager's working day, and prevent him from concentrating, shifting his attention to newly emerging unforeseen problems. Therefore, one of the tasks of the manager’s secretary is filtering (sorting) telephone calls. The secretary must know well who and on what issues should be contacted with the manager. Knowing organizational structure company (institution) and the distribution of responsibilities between employees (who does what), the secretary, having found out the topic of the conversation, can often himself correctly redirect the subscriber. It is useful for the secretary to have a criterion, based on the opinion of the manager, according to which incoming calls should be rejected, rescheduled (re-call) or should be passed on to the manager.
Today, telephones with answering machines are widely used to record and transmit messages. They are usually turned on during hours when there is no one to answer calls because no one is in the office. For example, at lunchtime, in the evening or at night, on non-working days.
The secretary, freed or coming to workplace, must listen to the recording and convey the messages to their destination, and, if necessary, contact the callers.
For a client who calls an organization, the secretary’s voice on the phone is the organization with all its policies, attitude towards the consumer and quality of service. As the secretary says, will she support the client, will she help solve his problem - all this adds up to no less than the image of the company. Telephone etiquette is simple, you just need to follow a few simple rules. Let's talk about them in this article.
My experience of communicating with the most different organizations shows that some young ladies should not be allowed to approach the telephone at gunpoint and should not be allowed to talk to clients. Especially it concerns small companies, whose managers use the “cheap and cheerful” principle when recruiting personnel. As a result, calls are answered by illiterate ladies who say “ringing” and “hang up”, treat absolutely everyone with incomprehensible anger, and are rude to everyone indiscriminately, for which they receive a salary slightly higher than the minimum wage. I hope this is not about my readers.
On the other hand, the callers themselves sometimes behave in such a way that you want to not just hang up, but throw it at their head (just kidding:)). But you can't. At least because the role can easily be played by a “mystery shopper” - a marketer with a voice recorder. Today you will express everything you think about this person, and tomorrow you will listen to a recording of this conversation together with the CEO.
Many companies record conversations of their employees in order to improve customer service. A very good decision!
So, three pillars on which it rests business conversation by phone:
- Politeness
— Friendliness
- Helpfulness
Intonation
Remember: no matter what your mood and condition are, whether you want to communicate or not, you need to speak on the phone correctly and friendly.
Making your intonation pleasant is very simple: before you start speaking, smile. This is all. No one forces you to rejoice in life; you just need to stretch your lips into a smile. It’s been tested - this makes your voice happier.
Mood
If a person calls, it means he needs something from you. Your task is to help by satisfying his needs as much as possible. This attitude is the starting point of communication both with visitors to your office and with those who call it.
Text
When you pick up the phone, first say the full name of your company, then a greeting (“Hello” or “Good afternoon”), and finally identify yourself. This is an unshakable rule: a person must make sure that the number is dialed correctly.
Some companies ask their employees to say a corporate slogan or some text when answering a call. I recommend adopting this clever move, which allows you to “mark yourself” in the memory of the caller.
Examples of such texts:
“Zarya Company”, reliable windows for every home! My name is Maria, I’m listening to you!”
“White Light Company, energy of success! You called the reception, my name is Olga, how can I help you?”
If you are calling somewhere, you also need to introduce yourself, but briefly. First name the company, then your position and name. For example:
“Good afternoon, Bely Svet company.” I'm a secretary general director, my name is Olga".
Once and for all, banish the expression “bothers you” from your vocabulary. Disturbing is the wrong number at two in the morning. IN work time such words are inappropriate. Once upon a time I replaced this phrase, and instead of “Company N is bothering you,” I taught myself to say “Company N welcomes you.” The tone of the conversation immediately changed.
Never say the following phrases:
- I don't know
- I was not warned
— The director has left somewhere
— I don’t know when the director will arrive.
— I don’t have this document (price list, list, protocol, agreement)
- Read our website, everything is written there
and so on.
The list goes on and on. All these phrases have one thing in common: the secretary’s incompetence and his unwillingness to help the caller. These two qualities should never be demonstrated.
All of the following phrases can be replaced:
I don’t know, I wasn’t warned = I’ll check now and let you know. You can call back later or leave your phone number.(You buy time to find the answer.)
The director has left somewhere, I don’t know when the director will arrive = The director is at a meeting at the ministry. He'll be back as soon as the meeting is over. Unfortunately, I can’t say more precisely. Please try calling in an hour(after lunch, at the end of the day, tomorrow - depending on when the director actually arrives).*
*I hope you understand that you cannot report to everyone where your superiors are at the moment. You can get out of it with neutral answers like these.
I do not have this document = I will now connect you with the specialist who is responsible for this work. His name is Maxim Sergeevich, he will answer all your questions.
Read our website, everything is written there- I would fire you immediately for such an answer without any further discussion. It doesn’t matter what is written and where, the secretary’s duty is to provide the consumer with all possible information within his competence.
And one last thing. In the word “calls” the stress falls on the second syllable: it calls, and not vice versa.
Call message
Every day you may receive dozens of calls asking to speak to the director. But that’s why you work in the reception area or at the reception, to filter all incoming information, filter out the unnecessary, and direct everything else in the right direction.
And then the phone rings. You pick up the phone and introduce yourself. Then you hear the standard “Can I have Ivan Petrovich?”
Option number one - Ivan Petrovich is in his office and is ready to talk.
- Find out who's calling. There are enough speech formulas for this:
- Who is asking him?
— How can I introduce you?
- Introduce youreself.
- Identify yourself.
Speaking of “introduce yourself.” Once, a certain pompous gentleman, in response to my “please introduce yourself,” replied that there was no need to call on him to die. They say introducing yourself means dying. A clinical case of literary illiteracy. Indeed, in Russian there is obsolete word“to repose,” which means “to die, to pass away.” A modern word“to introduce oneself” means nothing more than “to identify oneself, to introduce oneself.”
One way or another, you need to get from the caller his first and patronymic, and always his last name, position and the name of the company he represents.
- Find out what issue this person is calling about.
At this stage, many calls can be eliminated. Often callers end up at the reception desk and ask for the general director only because the company has not indicated any other contact persons. It is advisable to send someone who wants to order your products to the sales department, and not to the manager.
So you transfer the call to your superiors, telling them, for example:
“The deputy director for development of the Prostor company, Sergey Sergeevich Mikhailov, is calling. He would like to discuss the protocol of disagreements regarding the treaty with you.”
Option number two - the director is busy or has left for a meeting, and the secretary is taking calls at this time. By the time the boss returns, it is necessary to provide him with a full report: who called, when and why.
You can add the following fields to the form:
— Last name, first name, patronymic of the caller (enter in full, of course)
— Organization
- Question
— Feedback (phone, email address, any other contacts of the caller)
— Date and time of call
These forms can be completed at in electronic format, like , and then print. You can print it out and then fill it out by hand - whichever is more convenient.
Phone book
This is very useful thing, which carries both information and image functions. You will create your own phone book yourself. It is most convenient to keep it electronically.
You need to create a table file in which every day, with every call (if possible) you will enter:
- last name, first name, patronymic of the caller,
- his position, company,
- his contact numbers,
- issues that he usually discusses with his manager.
As you understand, you need to fill out the phone book according to the principle of reasonableness. Not everyone will be enrolled there. Only representatives of higher organizations, contractors and similar characters. Knowing the contacts, you can connect the director with any of them at any time.
Well, about the image function of your phone book. When receiving a call, all you have to do is ask the name of the caller. Everything else has already been written down, and you will immediately call this person by his first name and patronymic. The person calling gets a favorable impression of your company and you personally in advance.
Most first business contacts are made through phone calls. And in future activities, the phone allows you to quickly resolve all sorts of issues. Using a telephone saves time, generates right decisions and, often, to the formation of the company's image. A correct response to a client’s call can lead to the conclusion of a deal, while an incorrect response can sever the relationship or delay the implementation of the project for a long time.
That's right, which is surprising at first glance, but not easy. And the level of sales, indicators of consumer demand, customer interest and brand awareness directly depend on this skill. The ability to correctly answer incoming phone calls is one of the essential tools, which the management and office staff of any modern enterprise must be fluent in.
Answer rules
In this material we will outline ten basic rules for correctly answering incoming calls. If you want to improve your team's performance and increase your phone sales, be sure to learn and implement each technique described in your office—you won't be disappointed.
Rule number one
Once you pick up the phone, it's up to you to solve the calling customer's problems. You are actually a “one-stop service” for a client who decides to contact your company. You are responsible not only for yourself personally, but also for the entire enterprise, for all its services and structural divisions.
If the processing of an incoming call by the company representative who answered the phone is incorrect, all the efforts of marketers and serious expenses on and promotion of the company may be in vain. Therefore, from the moment you pick up the phone until the end of the telephone conversation, any unprofessional word spoken can cause innumerable problems.
You need to receive a call in such a way that the calling client feels your disposition, your desire to help and solve the caller’s problems. The professionalism of the respondent is the key to successful continuation of business contact.
Rule number two
The person answering the customer's call must be competent in most of the issues that may interest the customer. What promotions are held in the company, which ones are unique. He must also clearly understand to whom the call can be quickly forwarded in case of specific questions posed by the client. For example, if a complex technical question is asked, the secretary will not be able to give a comprehensive answer, so he must quickly and politely transfer the caller to the engineering or technological service.
Rule number three
The responder must always strictly adhere to business etiquette. The call must be answered before the third signal. You should greet the caller and introduce yourself. You need to state the name of the company, your name and position. This allows for a closer degree of contact to be established. The secretary must definitely ask how the caller should be addressed, clarify the issue for which he contacted the company, and offer him his assistance. Thus, after establishing a trusting contact, you will find out exactly the purpose of his call and will be able to provide him with qualified assistance.
Rule number four
Monitor reactions to questions asked by the client and complaints made. Always have standard answers ready to common questions. Do not allow negativity or dissatisfaction on your part. Treat the questions that the client will ask positively, because they indicate his interest. It is important to always thank the client for asking questions and for contacting your company.
If a question is not fully understood, it is important to ask for clarification or repetition. Try to speak measuredly, do not speak frequently. Speak in accessible language so that the client does not have to strain trying to understand what you told him.
Rule number five
When talking on the phone, be sure to use a variety of techniques and techniques. It does not provide a visual sequence, that is, neither interlocutor is able to see each other’s reaction to the words spoken. To maintain a trusting atmosphere in a dialogue, you should always let your interlocutor know that you heard what he said.
To maintain a trusting atmosphere in a dialogue, you should always let your interlocutor know that you heard what he said.
You should periodically repeat the main thoughts and words heard in the dialogue. Tell your interlocutor that you have recorded the information he expressed. From time to time it is worth changing the timbre, tempo of speech, and using different intonations in conversation. Don't be monotonous, otherwise you risk losing the attention of the client calling you. Be sure to watch what you say. You should speak clearly, clearly and unambiguously.
You can use popular techniques for telephone conversations. For example, “echo” is a verbatim repetition of the wishes expressed by the client. Before such a repetition, you should use introductory constructions such as “as I understand you...” or “as far as I understand, you...”. Or a “resume” – a summary repetition of the essence of the client’s wishes. It is also possible to use the “logical consequence” technique. Start with “so, you...” and continue with a logical conclusion from what the client said.
The “clarification” technique is a request to clarify the client’s words by explaining a number of individual points. The last reception should begin with the words “could you please explain again...”.
Rule number six
You should always strictly control the emotional coloring and intensity of the conversation. Do not allow “overheating” under any circumstances. In case of conflict situation– your task is to make every possible effort to promptly resolve the client’s questions and complaints. Make sure the customer is satisfied. In this case, he will always remember that you helped him get rid of his problems, and will be happy to contact you in the future.
On the other hand, communication should not be empty. In order to avoid such a situation, you should always follow the chain: making an initial contact – determining the purpose of the call – resolving the client’s question – politely ending the conversation.
Rule number seven
Try to indicate in the conversation that the interlocutor is important to you. The fact is that if the interlocutor is interesting to you and feels it, there is a high probability of mutual interest on the part of the calling client. You should show support, sympathy, and approval towards the caller.
After establishing initial contact, address him by name and express to him your readiness to help. The interlocutor, based on your words, will understand that they are ready to help him, that you are sincerely happy about his call, that he was heard and understood. Most importantly, he realizes his importance and importance. Try not to interrupt. Listen carefully. When moving the conversation to another topic, choose the appropriate moment. Let the client express his thoughts first, then constructively invite him to consider another subject for conversation or look at the situation from an alternative point of view.
Rule number eight
Under no circumstances should the client be kept waiting for a long time. This causes irritation and has a very negative impact on the image of the organization. Time is money. By saving the client's time, you actually save money for him. He will remember this. There is no more grateful client than one who was not only helped and listened to, but did it as quickly as possible.
Do not forward the call unless necessary. Only if you are unable to resolve the client’s issue yourself. Never make a customer wait more than half a minute. If you still had to put the client “on hold” to clarify any information regarding his request, do not forget to thank him for waiting. Necessarily. The client will hear this and appreciate your concern for him.
Rule number nine
Appreciate customer calls. Don’t forget that every incoming call is the result of the work and efforts of many, many departments of your company.
Rule number ten
The dialogue should be completed correctly. 75% of a conversation, at least that which is remembered by the client, is the beginning and end of the conversation. The beginning and end of a conversation are two moments that are remembered against the backdrop of emotional overtones. Moreover, it is the end of the conversation that is remembered as the final result of the conversation. It is necessary to take all contact information and briefly summarize the agreements reached with the client. And, of course, don’t forget to thank the client for making the call.
The beginning and end of a conversation are two moments that are remembered against the backdrop of emotional overtones.
Eventually
As can be seen from all of the above, there is nothing complicated about answering phone calls correctly, and the answering technique is nothing supernatural. You just need to be attentive, friendly and follow etiquette. Grateful customers will no doubt reciprocate in the form of increased sales and awareness of your brand. However, statistics show us that very, very many, even if they are employees of large transnational corporations, do not know how to properly use this simple tool like telephone conversations.
Be sure to conduct 1-2 trainings for employees who most often have to deal with incoming phone calls. Familiarize them with the rules given in our article and you will see how the efficiency of your business will increase. Good luck with your conversations!
The first people potential clients and partners of the company contact by telephone are secretaries and office managers. The subscriber’s first impression of the organization depends on how well they have telephone communication skills. In the article we will talk about the factors that shape it, and also teach you how to develop and use scripts and speech modules incoming phone calls.
In view of large quantity proposals and increased competition in all areas of production of goods and provision of services, the quality of service greatly influences the choice of customers.
INCOMING CALL REPLY SPEED
When calling some companies, the client first listens to a recorded voice greeting, then selects the purpose of the call using the tone mode keys (for example, he needs to consult a product or contact an internal number with a company employee).
Typically, the voice message lasts 15-20 seconds, and then the client waits for the connection, listening to beeps or background music. If the wait is prolonged, he usually hangs up and the company loses the client, and with it the profit.
In such cases, the client’s patience is overflowing, his mood is ruined, and he can take his irritation out on the employee who answered the call. This is why it is so important not to make the client wait too long.
A comfortable waiting time for a client is three phone beeps. It is during this time, according to the International Association of Professional Administrators, that the client has time to prepare for the upcoming conversation and think through the issues that need to be resolved.
RECORDING A TELEPHONE CONVERSATION
Most operators and virtual PBXs offer the option to record telephone conversations.
It allows secretariat managers to track the literacy of employees, compliance with the rules of telephone etiquette and the stages of consulting clients.
The recorded conversation is also useful for self-reflection. After listening to it, you can identify and eliminate gaps in telephone communication. Therefore, if the company records calls, ask for several recordings to analyze them and understand what points need further work.
VOICE AND SPEECH WORK
Telephone communication differs from personal conversation in the absence of visual contact between the interlocutors. Therefore, during telephone communication, the main tools of the secretary, who is deprived of the opportunity to see the interlocutor, are voice and information (words).
Voice - " musical instrument» secretary, which needs to be worked hard on. After all, with the help of our voice we express our attitude towards the interlocutor in a telephone conversation. When answering a call, consider several recommendations (Fig. 1).
Rice. 1. Center memo professional development"Profi-Career" for voice work
If you want to improve your telephone communication skills, then it would be a good idea to purchase a mirror on a stand and place it close to the phone. In front of a mirror it is easier to control your facial expression, which affects your voice and intonation.
To improve diction you can also use tongue twisters:
The bankers were rebranded and rebranded, but they were not rebranded.
Creative is not creative, it needs to be re-creative!
De-ideologized, de-ideologized, and pre-ideologized.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR RECEIVING INCOMING CALLS
To improve the quality of telephone communication with clients and partners, the company needs to develop universal instructions for receiving incoming calls for secretaries and office managers (Example 1). It must be performed by every employee who works with incoming calls.
When drawing up instructions, it is important to take into account the purpose of processing an incoming call. The main ones are to provide the client with information and obtain basic information about him and the organization he represents (name, position, name of organization, phone number, email address).
SCRIPTS AND SPEECH MODULES FOR INCOMING CALLS
The greeting must comply with the company standard and be:
Positive;
Understandable;
Easy to understand;
Informative;
Business.
The standard greeting formula consists of three stages (Fig. 3): greeting phrase, information about the company and personal data of the employee who received the call.
Rice. 3. Greeting formula
A corporate greeting might sound like this: “Good afternoon! Company “Profi-Career”, administrator Galina. How can I help you?"
When developing a corporate greeting, pay attention to several important points:
If the organization is engaged in the supply of equipment, installation and repair, for example, of windows and plumbing, then in the greeting it is necessary to indicate the type of activity of the company. For example: “Good afternoon! Window installation, Ventura company. My name is Anna. How can I help you?"
However, if the company is called “Superwindows”, the type of activity need not be mentioned: the name speaks for itself.
It is necessary to mention the type of activity so that callers do not feel discomfort if they suddenly forget the name of the company, which often happens during mass price monitoring.
Be sure to introduce yourself. Customers are pleased to communicate with a specific person, and not with an impersonal company. Introducing yourself by name will save the client time asking, “How can I contact you?”
The phrase “I’m listening to you!” It's better not to use it. It goes without saying that the client calls the company to be listened to and heard. Such a phrase only complicates and lengthens the greeting.
Here are the correct and incorrect greeting phrases:
Stage 2. Receiving a client's question/request
At this stage, the secretary or office manager asks the name of the caller and finds out the purpose of the call: “How can I help you?” or “How can I contact you?”
After the remark of the employee who answered the call, the client’s question sounds, which needs to be answered, or a response remark. Establishing closer contact and showing that you are listening carefully to the person will help technique accession. First, confirm the client's point, then answer the specific question. The connection means can be:
Positive reaction to the subscriber’s words: “You have come to the right place!”
Your positive answer: “Yes, of course!”
Supporting phrase or sentence: “Yes, this type delivery will suit you, the price is reasonable and the delivery time is quite short. Now I will tell you about other nuances..."
When forwarding a call, the secretary must, in a tactful and professional manner, find out who is calling and for what purpose (“scan” the call).
It is important to distinguish between “scanning” calls and “filtering” them. When assigning tasks to secretaries, managers often do not distinguish between these concepts. By “filtering” we mean “screening out” unwanted calls. For example:
Administrator: Reception of Mr. Sobolev, my name is Alina Volkova, how can I help you?
Caller: Can I talk to Mr. Sobolev?
Administrator: Who's calling him?
Caller: Ivanov Ivan.
Administrator: Unfortunately, Mr. Sobolev is absent.
When “filtering” calls, the following phrases are also used: “Who is asking him?” or “Who am I talking to?”
Such remarks resemble an interrogation, causing dissatisfaction in the caller and the feeling that they are not interested in him, they do not trust him. But the task of a client-oriented company is to help the client.
To get information about the caller when it comes to forwarding, it is better to use phrases from the three lower blocks, which allow you to “scan” the caller, but not “filter” him:
Let's consider how to conduct a dialogue correctly at the stage of receiving a client's question/request:
Secretary: Hello! Plant breeding, Romashka company. My name is Anna. How can I help you?
Client: Hello. Please connect me with Tatyana Ivanova.
Secretary: Thanks for your call. How can I introduce you to Tatyana?
Client: Olga Sidorova, JackJoe company.
Secretary: Thank you, Mrs. Sidorova. One minute please.
What did the secretary do right?
1. Thanked you for the call.
2. Tactfully asked the caller to introduce himself, without an imperative (“Introduce yourself”).
3. Thanked the client for providing information using the official personal contact form (“Mrs. Sidorova”). The caller should also always be thanked for their introduction.
If a client asks to connect him with a manager who is not there, you must first inform him that the boss is not in the office and only then clarify the client’s personal data:
In the first case, the client may have the impression that Pyotr Andreevich asked in advance not to connect him with the caller, although, perhaps, the secretary was not faced with such a task.
Stage 3. Clarification of the client’s question/request
At this stage, it is necessary to listen to the client and clarify for what purpose he is calling, using leading questions that require a detailed answer - open questions:“What information would you like to receive?”/“Please tell me what exactly you are interested in?”
Guiding questions will help:
Identify client needs.
Clarify what the client means and reduce the conversation time.
Establish a dialogue with the client.
Build communication to find solutions that meet the client’s needs.
Remember that questions should be short and clear. Do not ask the client several questions at the same time. To clarify information, you can use several types of questions (see Table).
You can also check whether you understood the caller’s question correctly. “Paraphrase” technique. The essence of this technique is that it is necessary to paraphrase the interlocutor’s remark:
Caller: I have the following situation. Our company sent documents by overnight delivery, but they are not always delivered the next business day for various reasons. Especially if the recipient was not there. Therefore, I am interested in faster and more efficient delivery of documents on the same day.
Secretary: Do I understand correctly that you need urgent delivery of correspondence? We also have extra-urgent deliveries within two hours from the moment the correspondence is collected in Moscow.
If you receive confirmation of your words, it means that you listened to the client who contacted the company, carefully and understood everything correctly.
One of the common mistakes when clarifying a caller’s question is the use of the imperative mood. This form of addressing the client creates a negative impression of the secretary as a representative of the company and makes the client experience not the most positive emotions.
Stage 4. Consulting/informing the client
It is very important for the receptionist to know the basic issues that the caller is asking about. They are usually included in the list of frequently asked questions ( frequently asked questions- FAQ) (Fig. 4). It also indicates possible answers.
The memo is especially useful when it comes to prices for products or services, detailed information that is not on the organization’s website. For example, the websites of fitness centers most often do not indicate prices for club cards. They are communicated by the administrator by phone.
Materials in help format (FAQ) - good help for secretaries who have recently taken up their official duties.
Rice. 4. Fragment of a sheet of frequently asked questions from the Professional Development Center “Profi-Career”
It is important to be proactive during the counseling phase. The initiative in a telephone conversation is always with the one who asks the questions. The secretary should ask leading questions, thereby helping the client.
Effectively use to manage a conversation interception technique. Its main rule is: end your words with a question and listen to the answer! The answer diagram is shown in Figure 5.
Rice. 5. Response pattern for the interception technique
The response with the interception technique might sound like this: “I need time to prepare information for you. Are you comfortable receiving a response by email?”
The secretary also needs to know:
How to ask a client to wait. Even when several phones ring, you need to pick up the phone so as not to lose customers. In this case, you can say to the caller: “Sorry, Oleg Nikolaevich, I will forward another call and get back to you right away. Thank you!"
Returning to the delayed call, thank the client for waiting and remind you where you left off: “Oleg Nikolaevich, thank you for waiting, we stopped at the fact that...”
How to redirect a client to another employee. If the question the client is asking needs to be addressed to another employee, state the last name, first name, patronymic, position and telephone number of the employee to whom you are referring the client. Ask your interlocutor for permission to switch: “Petr Alekseevich is dealing with these issues, Chief Accountant. Can I switch you to it? […] Thank you!"
Don’t forget to tell the employee taking the call what the client is calling about, so that the client doesn’t have to voice his request a second time: “Ivan Alekseevich, Tatyana Morozova is calling about organizing a training.”
The dialogues of some employees with clients are more like players kicking a ball on the field. This phenomenon is called "bureaucratic rebound" or useless call forwarding. For example:
Secretary: Good afternoon Company " Best Internet Provider", Daria. How can I help you?
Client: Hello, I would like to clarify whether the Internet subscription fee under my contract has changed.
Secretary: I don’t even know... Wait, please (redirects the call).
Client: I would like to clarify the information regarding the Internet subscription fee.
After the third redirect, most clients lose patience.
When redirecting, consider a few recommendations:
Don't rush to switch the call if you can help the client yourself.
Study the company's organizational structure to understand which employee is responsible for what. Then you can refer the client to a specialist who will help the caller as quickly and competently as possible.
Tell the caller what you will do. Tell him that you will transfer him to a competent employee. Don't forget to ask permission to switch and thank the client after he agrees.
Be sure to tell the employee to whom you are referring the caller the purpose of the call and the client’s question. If the customer has to voice a question or describe a situation several times, especially if the story is long, this can irritate the caller. Therefore, when redirecting, it is better to briefly describe the situation to a competent employee yourself.
For example, the secretary of an IP telephony provider company asks the client to give the number personal account. If during the conversation it turns out that the secretary’s knowledge is not enough to resolve the client’s issue, he should be referred to a technical service specialist. The administrative employee forwards the phone call and gives the caller’s personal account number so that the client does not have to waste his time.
How to receive a message. A secretary, executive assistant, or receptionist takes messages by telephone when the manager or competent employee being asked is not available.
The secretary must clarify what to convey to the absent person. There are several approaches to receiving messages. Compare two dialogues:
It's better to use the second option. Otherwise, you most likely will not convey anything to your colleague or manager, even though you called them. In the first dialogue, the secretary asked a question, the obvious answers to which were “yes” or “no.” Most callers choose the “no, thank you” option out of politeness or thinking that the secretary's question about the caller's desire to leave a message is just a formality.
When recording a message, be sure to accurately record the following information:
Write down the message verbatim, don't rely only on your memory. If something is unclear, ask clarifying questions. Having recorded the information received, read what was written down to the subscriber to make sure that everything is correct.
Save the information submission form. If the caller was unhappy, convey his emotions and feelings in the message.
Don't add anything of your own. By replacing terms and words, shortening or removing details that you think are not important, the meaning may change.
Do not use napkins, corners of documents, or scraps of paper to receive telephone messages. To record information, it is better to create a special form for receiving messages, which will clearly record the information (Example 2).
The message must be sent to the addressee. Otherwise, the subscriber will call again, but in a much more unpleasant mood, because he had to wait in vain for a call back.
Step 5: Ending the conversation
When ending a telephone conversation, the secretary must:
Clarify if the client still has any questions: “Do you have any more questions?” / “What else would you like to clarify?”
Thank you for the call and say goodbye to the client: “Thank you very much for your call, Have a good day, goodbye”/“Thank you for your call, all the best, goodbye.”
Remember that the client is always the first to end the conversation.
Don’t forget about the rules of telephone etiquette: study the stages of telephone conversations and the algorithms of actions at each of them, learn to control your voice, intonation and timely adapt to the interlocutor on the other end of the line - all this will help you win the favor of the company’s clients, and therefore increase profits.
Literary encyclopedia / Under. ed. V.M. Fritsche, A.V. Lunacharsky. In 11 volumes - M.: Publishing House of the Communist Academy; Soviet encyclopedia; Fiction, 1929-1939.
Call Master. How to explain, convince, sell over the phone. / Evgeniy Zhigiliy. - M.: Mann, Ivanov and Ferber, 2013. - 352 p. P. 24.