10 Tips for a professional phone policy

For most companies the telephone is a critical business tool: When and how you answer it could make the difference between business success and failure. When your competitors are only a phone call away, make sure your customers don’t need to call them:

1) Answer the phone on the third ring. Don’t answer too quickly; you may catch your caller off guard, don’t let it ring longer; you don’t want your caller to think you aren’t there.

2) Answer the phone with a smile. The caller’s first impression of your company will be the warmth of the greeting.

3) Introduce yourself and your company. Ensure your caller knows they have called the right number and who they are speaking with.

4) Pause for breath. Don’t speak too quickly; make sure your caller is able to understand what you are saying.

5) Be positive and helpful. If you can’t help the caller offer to find someone who can to call them back.

6) Have a telephone message pad and take detailed notes including the time of call, name and company of caller, who the message is for and the nature of their call. Repeat anything you are unsure of back to the caller and check any odd spelling.

7) Make sure all messages reach the intended recipient promptly and accurately.

8) If you must put a caller on hold, ask their permission to do so and never leave them on hold for longer than 30 seconds.

9) Avoid the use of your speaker phone, the caller will sense that you aren’t focussed or think that someone else might be listening in.

10) Return all calls from messages as soon as practically possible. This should be within one business day, if you are not able to, get a colleague to do so; offering your apologies and offering to help with their query.

For many businesses, the reality of life is that you cannot always answer your own phone; you may be with customers, in a meeting or simply out of the office.

Of course answer machines and mobile telephones can help, but many potential customers don’t like leaving messages.

So, better still is employing a telephone answering service, often with your own assigned telephone number and live office support they will answer your calls as if they were your dedicated receptionist.

Author Bio: Hyde Park House, Tameside, Cheshire; offering virtual office services to the World as well as flexible terms on Office Space to Rent, convenient for Manchester, Stockport and just a short drive from Manchester Airport. For more information visit www.hydeparkhouse.co.uk.

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