7 Phone Etiquette Tips Every Business Person Should Use
How you communicate with potential customers has a direct impact on your bottom line. Here are 7 phone etiquette tips every business person should follow.
A phone call from a customer will either make or break your business.
In 2011 alone, 67% of phone callers hung up the phone in frustration because of a bad phone call with a business. That’s 67% of customers lost to your competition.
It may feel like we live in a digital age, but customers still place a lot of value on having a traditional customer service experience over the phone. A good experience could change an unhappy customer to a loyal one.
If your business is struggling to provide great experiences for your customers over the phone, stop what you’re doing. Implement these 7 phone etiquette tips so you can grow your business even more.
1. Introduce Yourself
It never looks good to keep things too casual.
You want to be relatable but still allow the customer to feel safe with who they’re speaking with.
Start your introduction with a greeting, such as ‘hey’ or ‘hello’ followed by introducing yourself by name. To keep things professional, you want to make sure you give your full name.
This will set the tone for your customer and give them confidence that they’re speaking with someone relatable and professional.
2. Stay Aware of Your Volume
You could be saying all the right things. But how you say them can make all that good work go to waste.
When you’re on the phone, there’s a balance of speaking too quietly and too loudly. Remember, the person on the other end is holding a speaker directly to their ear.
Raising your volume too much will make them feel they’re being yelled at. However whispering will can creep a lot of people out.
Try to keep your volume at a natural level, similar to if they were sitting right in front of you. Be sure you’re in a so the caller isn’t distracted by other noises.
That way your information is what they take away.
3. Empathy is Key
This is probably the biggest rule of phone etiquette.
No matter how frustrated or emotional the person on the other end is, remember to empathize with what they are experiencing.
Even if it seems totally irrational, your empathy can go a long way for someone who feels wronged or misunderstood. Remember that they are ultimately trying to resolve an issue and called to get help.
If you respond with empathy, you’re on the path to turning a bad experience into a great one.
4. Communicate What You’re Doing
Sometimes finding answers can take longer than a minute. And when you’re on the phone a minute feels more like thirty.
But don’t be afraid to take your time. Ultimately your customer will be glad that you want to get the right answers for them.
You just want to be sure that you communicate to the person on the other end so they know why they’re waiting. Be prompt with answering the call, then communicate exactly what you’re doing to try and find the right information.
As long as they know why they’re waiting and that you are working to help them, customers will be much more patient.
And if you don’t feel you have the time or the resources to field all of your calls promptly, learn more about answering services that will be able to do so for you.
5. Remember the Reason For the Call
When you’re trying to solve an issue or sell a product, conversations can devolve a little bit.
If you do happen to get off track, don’t worry. Customers appreciate that you spend time with them. Just be sure to keep the reason for the phone call in mind.
Ultimately, after a phone call with a business, the customer either wants to feel they’ve learned something or a problem has been solved. If you make sure to come back to the initial point of focus, you’ll be able to accomplish that.
Remind the person at the other end that you want to make sure they get what they need and bring up what options you can provide. This will keep your phone etiquette both professional and focused.
6. Always Let the Caller Know When Others Are Listening
Building trust is important for any relationship and any business.
If you do have to have others in the room while you are speaking with your customer, be sure to let them know. This will automatically set a tone of openness and honesty.
By starting with this kind of transparency, your customer will feel at ease. It may even create a better experience for them to know that multiple people are involved in making their experience great.
Even when you’re on a phone call with a colleague, letting them know others are in the room allows there to be equal trust.
This is phone etiquette that you can apply to most any situation.
7. Keep Voicemails Concise
In the event that you miss who you’re meant to speak with, leave a voicemail so they know you called. But don’t get carried away.
While you may want to let them know every detail of what you’d like to speak with them about, suppress the urge to leave it all in a message.
Many people won’t actually listen to their voicemail. But the people who do listen to a long-winded message can be left with a bad taste in their mouth.
Your voicemail sets the tone for the conversation to come. Don’t give them any reason to call with a grievance. You just need to let them know who you are, the basics of why you’re calling, and how they can get back to you.
This will leave your business looking professional and set your future phone call up for success.
Phone Etiquette Makes A Loyal Customer
Don’t let your addiction to emailing be the death of a quality, professional phone call.
If you follow these 7 guidelines, you’ll be set to give your customer a great over the phone experience. And that can ultimately lead to better business.
To learn more about how to help your business succeed, or contact us.
We’re here to help your business thrive.
