TELEPHONE ETIQUETTE FOR BUSINESS 2

TELEPHONE ETIQUETTE FOR BUSINESS 2

Today, we shall look at how to act as a professional while on the telephone. By the time we are through we will then examine my conversation with the two bookstores. Here are the 7 basic rules for good telephone etiquette for business. Before I go on, it is instructive to note that there is a wrong perception in the marketplace today that as long as my job description does not have Customer Service Professional in it, I do not have to act as one. This perception is totally wrong. As long as you have a company telephone line in your custody, as long as you speak on behalf of a company or organization, you are a Customer Service Professional. Excellent customer service is not the job of a department in a company or organization; it is the duty of everyone in the organization.

THE SEVEN BASIC RULES

1.      AVOID AUTOMATION OR VOICEMAIL ON PRIMARY OFFICE LINE

You see, it is a customer service crime to assign your primary office line to an automated system or voicemail. Your office primary line must always be available, at least during business hours. By the way, if you have a business that doesn’t have a reachable telephone line, you will soon have to business at all.

2.      ANSWER EVERY CALL WITHIN TWO RINGS

Do not keep your clients waiting on the line; pick the call within two rings. If for any reason you were able to pick within two rings, apologize immediately. If you cannot keep up with this rule, please give the line to someone who can.

3.     TAKE OWNERSHIP

One of the crimes businesses commit on a daily basis is to transfer responsibility when a client calls in to an organization. Please note that the client does not know the internal workings of your organization. It is actually rude to refer a client to another person. Best customer service practice demands that you get the details of the sub and the answer to the customer’s enquiry, request or complaint. And then get the relevant person to call the client back and resolve the issue.  The customer is more important than the little bureaucracy of “it’s not my job”

4.      GET BACK TO THE CLIENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

There is this golden rule of getting back to a customer within 24-48 hours. Well, that rule has long expired. Business in the 21st century is at the speed of light. It is said that in politics 24 hours is a long time. Ditto customer service, 24 hours is too long to get back to a customer. Organizations that deliver exceptional customer service do not wait for 24 hours before getting back to a customer. If the issue cannot be resolved within 24 hours, please get in touch with the customer and give feedback. Experience has shown that different factors prevent organizations from adding speed tom their service. For the sake of this discussion I will mention just 2: technology and business process. Solution, deploy the right technology and implement a vibrant business process that deliver speed.

5.     ALWAYS ANSWER CALLS PROFESSIONALLY

There is a tendency to attend to business phone calls like private calls. We have to be professional while handling official calls. No chewing, no side talk, no muttering, no unpleasant sounds. All these appear to be customer service rules, yes they are. But when you are interacting with a client, the client isn’t interacting with you s/he is interacting with your organization. Therefore, whether as a sales person, front desk officer, project manager, logistics executive or even the CEO, please be professional while interacting with customers.

6.     GIVE YOUR NAME ALWAYS

You see, a conversation is not complete if you do not give your name to the other party. Always state your name, the name of your company and your department/unit. The client needs to know who s/he is speaking to and the office you represent. This will give the customer an idea of how the conversation might go. This rule also applies to when you are the one initiating the call to client. This should sound like “Good afternoon, my name is Joan; this is AWE Incorporated, Sales Unit. How may I help you?”

7.     BE COURTEOUS

I remember vividly some years back as a rookie Customer Service Professional; I was finding it difficult to deliver awesome customer service. I had just being drafted to the High Net worth   helpdesk and my service ratings were pretty low. Then my manager called me to her office and told me, “If you want to turn things around, treat every customer the same way you would treat the chairman and address every customer as sir/ma.” This was just the spark I needed. I adopted her advice and my service ratings hit the room so much that I became a reference point in my department. I guess we have this complex issue in this part of the world that makes it difficult for us to address clients as sir/ma. As I said, it is a complex issue. Addressing a client as sir/ma is not demeaning; it merely shows that the organization you represent values the client. Remember, the conversation is not between you and the customer; it is between the organization and the customer. We shall tie everything all up in the next article.