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. Very correct solution!

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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

Business information

Promotion of goods and services

Personnel Management

Which is correct...?

Business Etiquette

• Business Etiquette
• Positions of the interlocutors at the negotiating table

Business communications

Municipalities

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?

When communicating on the phone, business people tend to be brief 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.

Business information

Promotion of goods and services

Personnel Management

Which is correct...?

Business Etiquette

• Business Etiquette
• Positions of the interlocutors at the negotiating table

Business communications

Municipalities

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 this 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, changes 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 a 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...?

Have you heard the latest news about Iraq?

When communicating on the phone, business people tend to be brief 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 when communicating by phone with clients with whom over the years of working together you have developed warm, friendly or even friendly relations.

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 the right person on the phone;

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 that your letters, faxes and emails "do 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.

Hello! In this article we will talk about why it is necessary to answer incoming calls correctly.

Today you will learn:

• Why do you need to answer phone calls correctly?
• Rules to consider;
• What to do to make an incoming call effective.

Why is it important to answer incoming calls correctly?

It’s not for nothing that they say that every missed incoming call is a call to your competitor, and a poorly serviced one is a blow to your reputation.

It must be taken into account that 80% of business contracts are concluded only through telephone conversations. And after signing the contract, all issues are promptly resolved over the phone. Why telephone and not the usual email?

Everything is very simple, since only telephone conversations can significantly save time and allow you to make the right decision in the shortest possible time.

But there is a small nuance here. The correct answer on the phone can lead to the conclusion of a good deal, but the wrong one can ruin it business relationship. Conclusion - everyone should be able to answer telephone calls correctly.

Some people think that the easiest thing is to communicate by phone. In fact, this is a mistaken opinion and not everything is so simple.

Proper communication will depend on:

• Sales;
• Development of a client base;
• Company recognition;
• Indicators of consumer demand.

Every manager, especially a secretary, must have special telephone communication skills and know how to answer customer calls.

How to properly answer customer calls

There are several basic rules for how to provide answers during a telephone conversation. All you need is to master them and try to apply them in your work process. Of course, nothing may work out the first time, but after that, the results of communication will delight you.

Rules for receiving telephone calls:

1. You must clearly understand, as soon as you pick up the phone, you will be fully responsible for solving the problems of the interlocutor (client). During telephone communication, you represent the company you work for, and how professionally you do this will determine whether the client chooses the company or goes to competitors. Therefore, when answering every phone call, mentally think that you are the “voice of the company” and your main task is to win over the interlocutor.

2. Since customers like to ask numerous questions, you must provide answers to them clearly, and most importantly, reliably. Information about your company and the services you offer will help you with this. You must know everything from the origins of the company to how and what products are made from.

3. When communicating, do not forget about generally accepted business etiquette:

• You need to pick up the phone immediately, no later than the 3rd ring;
• Be sure to introduce yourself and clarify how you can address your interlocutor;
• Specify the purpose of the call;
• At the end of the conversation, ask if the interlocutor has any questions.

4. When communicating, do not be afraid to use specially designed methods. It is worth considering that telephone communication has its own characteristics, since the client does not see you. Therefore, you must make every effort to solve the problems that have arisen and make it clear that he is interested in you.

5. You should never let a client wait. If during communication you find it difficult to provide an answer, then it is better to agree with the client that you will call him back. You should not ask the client to “hang on the phone.”

6. You must clearly know that every phone call has its price. Perhaps on the other end of the line there is a successful businessman who plans to enter into a multimillion-dollar contract. It will depend on your skills whether it will be your contract or your competitors.

7. Always end your phone conversation correctly. As practice shows, it is the beginning and the end phone call gives general impression. Don’t forget to get contact details from your interlocutor and find out what time you can call him.

Taking everything into account listed rules, you can create a positive impression of your company and attract clients.

How to make receiving incoming calls effective

Unfortunately, not all employees can communicate correctly over the phone. Some make mistakes due to lack of experience, while others are simply unwilling to learn and practice it.

To interest your employee and teach him how to do the job correctly, you need to:

• Prepare a template effective reception telephone calls;
• Come up with ;
• Introduce control over all calls.

Let's look at each step in more detail:

1. Preparing a template for proper communication.

To understand how your employee responds to a client’s request, you just need to make a “secret incoming call” and record it. Try to understand the weak points during communication, strengths of his employee and what he “leaked” on.

In addition to the script, you must give clear instructions to your employees. This can be done in the form of an order.

Each employee must:

• Communicate with your interlocutor as if he were your only and best client;
• Don’t rush to end your phone conversation;
• Register a client to purchase a product or service;
• Get your interlocutor interested in choosing your company;
• If necessary, send a commercial proposal to the interlocutor;
• Make an appointment.

Be sure to check that employees are doing everything correctly.

1. Motivation.

This is a pleasant bonus that every employee can receive if they do their job correctly. Therefore, you should definitely introduce bonuses for those employees who answer telephone calls.

At the same time, you must clearly state how much and for what result the accrual will occur.

For example, the exact reward:

• For attracting a client to the company through competent communication over the phone;
• For selling goods or services of the company by telephone;
• For increasing the client base (here we are talking about recommendations).

You should not look for employees who will work in order to live. You must recruit the best people into your team who will work for results and achieve your goals, including for a good salary and interesting motivation.

1. Control.

No matter how bad it may sound, you can’t go anywhere without control. Only in this case will you control not employees, but the quantity and quality of incoming calls.

To draw up a complete report, each employee must:

• Keep records of telephone calls from regular customers;
• Record calls from primary clients;
• Indicate the number of calls on general issues;
• Record erroneous calls;
• Keep records of calls from advertising agents.

Of course, it is worth considering that every company is different and in large organizations it is difficult to record such information. But for this you can take additional employee or student. And here is the way out! And you have all the information necessary for work.

For convenience, you can create a special report form for your employees, in which they will enter information about incoming calls on a daily basis.

Many people chat on the phone. Business people talking. The percentage of telephone conversations per day is sometimes much greater than face to face. Practice telephone etiquette! This is very important rule. You are a well-mannered person, aren't you? Exactly.

Pick up the phone. They're calling you!

When the phone rings, we automatically pick up the receiver and answer the usual “Hello!”

Is this enough to start a conversation?

Let's see what telephone etiquette says.

First of all, let's draw a dividing line between business and personal contacts.

The point that unites all conversations is politeness, restraint, and command of the voice.

Your interlocutor cannot see what you are doing on the other side of the phone. But the slightest intonation betrays irritation, hostility, grief and other emotions.

"Hello" in a businesslike manner

You get a call on your work phone. Don't pick up the phone after the first signal. This can give the person calling you the impression that you simply have nothing else to do but answer the phone. It's not just your reputation. The conversation will leave an impression of the authority of the entire organization. Answer by waiting for two or three rings to ring. But by no means more. The rules of telephone etiquette do not allow disrespect for a person in this way.

It is not recommended to immediately start a conversation with the company name. It is best to greet the caller with the neutral phrase “Good day!” This time of day is considered the main working time. In other cases, you can use the address “Hello!”

Required condition business conversation considers adding a so-called voice “business card” to the greeting. This may be the name of the organization or your personal data - position, first and last name.

Ideally, the greeting scheme will look like this: “Good afternoon! Company "Sun"! or “Good day! Sunshine Company. Manager Olga Sergeeva."

A correctly structured answer to the call will mark the beginning of a successful pleasant conversation. It will create a good impression of the organization, emphasize its status and give it credibility. WITH educated people always a pleasure to deal with. Therefore, the impression made can play a significant role in future cooperation.

Personal “Hello!”

If you think that you can start a conversation with an acquaintance or friend any way you want, then you are mistaken. It is better to start any incoming call to your personal phone with wishes for a dear day and your own introduction.

By doing this, you will protect yourself from wasting time on explanations if the caller dialed your number by mistake. When someone calls you on a personal matter during work hours, a slightly formal introduction will set the tone for the overall conversation, meaning that you will let the person know that small talk is not an option at the moment. And this is simply a manifestation of good manners and politeness, which is interpreted by the rules of telephone conversation.

When you call

It would seem that it couldn’t be easier, I dialed the number and laid out the essence of the conversation. But many have already learned from experience that as soon as you start a conversation, it will develop. Whether a business call will be the beginning of a successful collaboration depends on the first moments of the conversation. The same can be said about personal contacts. Whether you spend half an hour explaining who is calling and for what reason, or outline the essence in a couple of minutes, it will be clear from the initial call.

Business call

You dialed the company number and received a standard greeting response. You also need to introduce yourself. If you represent an organization, indicate its name and your position. Next, briefly outline the essence of the appeal. You should respect the working time of others and not waste your own on confusing explanations. If you're planning a long conversation, don't forget to ask if it's convenient for the person who answered the phone to talk. Perhaps the conversation should be rescheduled for a more convenient time.

The rules for conducting a telephone conversation say “no” to such greeting phrases as “Are you bothered by...”, “You see, what’s the matter...”, “It’s okay if I disturb you...”. In this case, your “hello” should be obeyed with dignity, without ingratiation. Then you can count on a productive conversation and respectful attitude towards yourself. After a personal introduction, you can say “Help me solve this question...”, “Please tell me...”, “I’m interested in...”, etc.

Personal call to a friend or relative

"Hello my friend. How are you?" - Of course, you can start a conversation with your loved ones like this. But it would be better to introduce yourself. Especially if you are calling for a specific purpose and not just to chat. Firstly, you may dial a friend’s number at the wrong time. The person is busy, at work or business meeting, deals with personal problems. Secondly, imagine that your number was simply not identified, and your voice seemed unfamiliar due to poor quality of communication. To avoid putting yourself and your friend in an awkward position, identify yourself.

Let's continue the conversation

In any conversation you need to be attentive to your interlocutor. How to start a telephone conversation is a great skill, but its continuation is also of great importance.

Business continuation

You are the initiator of the call. So you have specific task that you want to resolve during the conversation. Prepare a list of questions that interest you in advance so as not to get confused and not waste someone else’s working time. Listen carefully to your interlocutor. Try to take notes on your answers; this will help you avoid asking them again.

During a conversation, the connection was interrupted? Call back if you started a conversation. You must also end the conversation. Be sure to thank your interlocutor. A pleasant ending would, of course, be wishing you a good day.

If they call you, listen carefully to the request. Do not forget to maintain attention to the conversation with the phrases “Yes, of course...”, “I understand you...”, “We will try to help...”, etc. The interlocutor will feel confident and will be able to describe the problem. When a conversation threatens to drag on, take the initiative and help steer the conversation in the right direction.

Before finishing, check with your interlocutor whether he received all the answers. If you cannot help him due to other reasons official duties, tell him the contact of an employee competent in a given topic.

Personal conversation by phone

In personal conversations the situation is simpler. But here, too, telephone etiquette provides some guidance. For example, a friend called you at an inconvenient time with a great desire to chat. For such cases, there is a standard telephone conversation: “Sorry, I’m at a meeting now...” or “I have a very important meeting, I’ll call you back later...”. You can add, “I understand that this is very important. I’ll call you back as soon as I’m free...” For your interlocutor, this will be an indication that you are not ignoring his problems. This means there will be no unnecessary insults. By the way, try to call back if you promised.

General rules for telephone conversations

Rules of etiquette for talking on the phone are not invented out of thin air. These are the observations of psychologists, practical experience, analysis based on the results of many interviews. Eat certain actions which etiquette welcomes or denies. Let's collect some of them into a small reminder.

1. Avoid loud personal conversations in public places and at work. You put others in an awkward position, forcing them to listen to intimate details of your life that have nothing to do with them.
2. Do not put your phone on speaker unless you have warned your interlocutor about it. This situation can create adverse consequences. But first of all, it is a show of respect for the person on the other end of the line.
3. Be careful when choosing a ringtone. Less loud aggression, because there may be people with a weak nervous system nearby.
4. Turn off the sound on your phone while at meetings, gatherings, cultural institutions, as well as in places where such a requirement is prescribed by the rules of conduct.
5. Do not combine a telephone conversation and eating. This makes it difficult to understand and expresses disrespect for the interlocutor.
6. Be careful about the time you plan to make the call. Early morning, late night - these, as you understand, are not the best periods for talking even with the closest person. You can call at such times only for the most urgent matters. Don't forget this.

A little conclusion

Now you know telephone etiquette. Call on time. Be polite. Pleasant telephone conversations and good mood!

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