Phone Answering Skills

How does your organization answer incoming phone calls? Are your team member’s phone answering skills consistent from one person to the next, or do your customers have to cross their fingers in hopes of having their call answered in a professional and courteous manner?

The fact is that it is incredibly important that your organization have a consistent method of answering incoming calls. Your customers deserve it and will appreciate your organization’s attention to detail and commitment to service.

How many times have you placed a call to an organization only to be greeted in the follow manner?

“ABC Company…”

“Yes, hi, could I speak with Jane Doe”

“Hold on…”

Chances are this has probably happened to you on more than one occasion, and while it could be much worse, it certainly doesn’t give you the most favorable first impression of ABC Company.

Now let’s consider the following example of a phone greeting where the individual from ABC Company utilizes proper phone answering skills to create an excellent first impression of ABC Company.

“Thank you for calling ABC Company, this is Bill, how can I help you?”

“Hi Bill, could I speak with Jane Doe”

“Certainly, may I ask who is calling?”

“This is John Johnson with XYZ Company”

“Mr. Johnson, may I place you on hold to see if Mrs. Doe is available to take your call?”

“You may, thank you.”

This second scenario is clearly a much more courteous way of answering a call to ABC Company and assures the caller of ABC Company’s professionalism through its proper use of telephone answering skills.

You will notice that in the second scenario Bill answered the incoming call using a professional four part greeting. These four parts include:

1. Initial greeting – Thanking the customer for calling or greeting them a good morning or good afternoon.

2. Announcing one’s organization – this is helpful as it reassures callers that they have called the right number and correct organization.

3. Introducing oneself to the caller – this personalizes the phone call and also lets the caller know who has helped them in the event that they need to speak with that individual again.

4. Offering to help the caller – this lets the caller know that you are willing to help connect them with an individual who is able to offer further assistance.

In The Phone Coach’s 10 Steps to Telephone Excellence training video, your team members will learn the importance of using the proper phone answering skills each and every time a customer calls as well as some great tips for perfecting a professional four part phone greeting similar to the one above.

The 10 Steps to Telephone Excellence training video is conveniently broken into ten modules, each covering a different element necessary for achieving telephone excellence, and will help your team members to answer incoming calls with class and professionalism in addition to many other skills that are invaluable to your organization and its customers.

If you would like to purchase The Phone Coach’s 10 Steps to Telephone Excellence training video available on DVD, VHS, or CD ROM give us a call or click the button below today! Still have questions about The Phone Coach’s 10 Steps to Telephone Excellence training video or are interested in our customized telephone training solutions click the button below to fill out our electronic information request form.