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In the midst days fast-paced high-tech business world
No other form of office communication is as perfectly used as the telephone
Millions of local long overseas calls are placed on a daily basis
The problem lies in the fact that many of these calls by people who have had little or no formal training
Concerning the correct way to manage a phone communications
Studies have shown that people form their initial impression of a company based on the first week with and how that
Individual presents their self and their organization those first few minutes of a conversation
Can often mean the difference between a satisfied and one who will look to the competition
the purpose of this program is to provide you with a full understanding of telephone etiquette and
some specific steps to follow when both incoming and
outgoing calls
Hello and welcome to our seminar on effective telephone. My name is mr. Woodson, and I'll be your instructor
Before we get watching me your names
Nicole Moore, I'm Jason young. I'm Stacy weddington
And I'm Tracy Sullivan really glad to have you all here today
but we want to teach how to handle types of business telephone commutes the
Telephone is the most widely used business commutes tool and as with any tool
It takes training and practice to use it properly
The booklets I'm going to pass around to you the various features
Telephones that will be using for our practice
Now although these features will be model to model as far as where they are on the phones
She's that they perform will barely remain the same
Sophisticated telephone systems offer me features. You should learn to your best advantage. Okay
Let's get started. The first thing we need to discuss is what do you do in the telephone ring? I
know
You answer it. Oh
But there are a couple of things you should for you reach for the risk and staying is to sit
Good part is essential and project good tone of voice
The next thing you should do is smile
Now I know the sound of silly but in reality
Good posture and smile are conveys the telephone lines
Now you're sitting up straight. You're saying the telephone rings. When do you answer it on the?
The second do you wait a certain number of rings it up?
You know people say that if you answer on the string that people will thank you to us for their business
Well, I don't know who started that but
I deal it answer the telephone promptly on the first ring if possible
Under no circumstance allow the phone to ring more than three
The next is to answer in a courteous
Fashionable manner if you're a sword operator or a receptionist a person for calling I did your company and
Tram nature of the call
You could say thank you for calling me machine. How may I help you? Or?
Thank you for calling a machinery. How may I do your call?
Now this show response will let the callers you appreciate them
Jumping and that they haven't reached the company that they were trying to count and most importantly you are interested
In connecting with the person that can help them them now if you work in another company
Identify apartment you can say customer service. This is Paul customer service me speaking
Always use good grammar
Avoid you playing terms like yeah or aha
Remember if I use grammar you're presenting off and your company and a business like professional
And never your chew gum or do anything that would muddle your speech
Avoid trimming endings from or running them to
Proper enunciation crucial, especially if you have clientele on a national or international basis
Now the last segment we want with is taking messages
Every who uses a business telephone one time or another will be required to take a message
There are some guidelines that you should flow to ensure that the patient you are relaying accurate and fleet
First you need to record caller's full name
Of using Joe or monson the world is joe's and mr
John's and the person returning the call must know exactly they need to reach
You will be an example of this a little later
The next step record the telephone number including the area code
You need to be extremely accurate because one digit or in verges results in a u message
You also need to doubt the color is with
Busy executives are off-wamp with calls from various individuals and organizations
Obviously some calls are more important than others
One way for determining which calls are urgent and which ones can be later
Is to know what company the call is with
It is also very important the date and time of each call
Here's an example of that
Boss is out of town on this
Monday at 2m jim stevens of as manufacturing calls inform him a delay shipping of a much needed product
Uh
The second noon at 330p your boss calls mr. Vince to check about the lettuce of his first order
Mr. Stevens informs the delay and the two of them were problem
Thursday morning your boss turns to the office and we're going through he finds one for him stick with no no
No, my ship is going to beat it again
Yes mark a precision pump I need with jim stevens
Yes
I'll rescue him. I'll put him through for
Gordon mark
this morning
Was fired until I got this message on additional delay in my equipment
Was to be the problem
Company can't manage to run time. I'll find one that can't
What other delay
When spoke monday afternoon, I promised you that you should order by the first of the month
Give me this message from monday and there isn't going to be any further delay
Sir, absolutely not
And I owe you energy for blowing my staff
I'm sure now you have seen the importance of a time and listed on each message
The next step in the mess taking process is to reference the nature call your notes such as
The status of purge order number 32 16 will help the person who will be returned to call prepare the conversation
They can research the information or is requesting ahead of time
Also extremely helpful to determine the urgent of a reply
Step that is often overlooked is to sign your name or initials at the bottom
And that way the person the message is for has any questions, then they will know who to contact
Finally read the message back to the caller to make sure you have currently recorded all information
Often you may find a call forgotten to include some important
Don't be afraid ask questions. If you are about anything
It is much professional to ask questions
Than it is inaccurate incomplete information
We've discussed answering the telephone
Let's take a look at a short film clip of a receptionist that was a local company
I believe you will see how her supervisor decided to enroll her in our effective telephone technique seminar I
I wish anybody else get that
Yeah, is this the continental company yeah
Hi, this is john joseph of excleasing. May I speak to mr sims?
I'm here
Do you know we're returning to the office i'm not his personal babysitter
As soon as mr c returns could you please have him me a call it's really urgent
Okay
My number is six. Oh, wait, wait a minute. Wait a minute. I got fun
Okay
My number is six one one five five five
Seven seven
Tell him I need to know how many large bands he'll need for the skin
Okay, joe. I'll ask him how many cans he needs. Bye
Let's see seven seven seven five five five five or five five seven seven
Seven any money enough
Okay, can you tell me what you did wrong
It'd be easier to tell you what right
Nothing an answer promptly didn't smile and posture. Well, it's terrible
Fight it anything else
When she finally answered the phone, she was not very courteous
And she didn't identify the company as the car who he would like to speak with
What else her grammar atrocious and she couldn't speak clearly with a lot of gum in her mouth
Well, how about the message you took
What message she just some incomplete information napkin that would be lying around and then threw it on her instead of putting it in her mouth
Instead of putting it in the mess box
Exactly, right
I believe how important it is to put all the info that you can on the message take
Mr sims had gotten message. He wouldn't who had called
What time they called wanted and i'm convinced from what we've shared that you understand
Much more to answering the telephone simply reaching for the receiver saying at all
Oh, let's drop in now on our reception to see if you learn anything from our effect telephone technique seminar
Thank you for choosing continental truck and he may help you
This is don joseph from express leasing. I speak with ms. Sims, please
Please i'm sorry. Mr. Joseph. Mr sims the office right now make a message
Yes, could you have him return off?
I need to check with him about home and margin seeds for this weekend
Extremely urgent may have your telephone number
Yes, it's area six one one the number five five
Seven seven seven seven
Seven. Okay, mr joseph make sure the correct information. That's joseph from express leasing
Telephone number one one five seven seven seven seven. We're a number of large vans this weekend. Is that
That's it
Thank you for calling. I'll see them's receivers as soon as he returns
Thank you. You're welcome. Goodbye
Quite a bit of improvement you see
Now let's review what we've learned about during the telephone
Remember that before you answer the telephone you should sit up
Smile and be attentive
Answer on the first ring if possible never later than the ring
Using courteous business like manner for phone communications
Projects a personal image for both you and your employer
Use good grammar speak clearly and speak duly into the headset
This is especially important when having deal with callers on a national or international basis
Yes, when taking meds be sure to include the caller first and last
Record the complete telephone number including area code list name of the company and the time of the call
Reference of the call a short note help person returning the call prepare for the conversation
Signing or initials in case of quest
The last thing to her is to read the infant back to the caller for accuracy
Now that we've discussed answering the phone, let's look at some types of call may encounter
The first we want to deal with is screening calls
Now if your reception part to switchboard operator you may buy a screen your employer's call
This means you only allow to be put through certain organizations or individuals
Okay, now
Although this rule don't use the line. He's in
That conveys to the caller that your boss doesn't talk to them instead of saying he's in a meeting
Say he's unavailable or from and take a message
Let's add another wrinkle to this scenario say tells you to hold all calls up for one from
Um, jim smith of abc corporation later that day the phone rings
The caller other in withoutifying himself big boss
You take a message
He identifies himself as jeff from abc corporation
Don't then say oh he just won't
But be professional and say sir
He did ask to interrupt him when you call now what you've by doing is followed your boss's instructions
And you've presented yourself in a professional business like manner
Next thing we discuss concerning in calls is placing a person hold
Hold buttons are located at different place different models of phones, but the function they perform same
When you put a hold you are temporarily connecting them from your station
In order to transfer them to another person or to gather information
And there are some guidelines that we should follow to ensure smooth telephone communications
Remember when you place a person on hold it is essential that you know your company's personnel
Some companies produce company directories that list each employee and give their extension number
To avoid transferring a caller to the wrong department. It's important that you know the job description of each employee
And remember when you place a person on hold try not to leave them there for more than 30 or 40 seconds
Studies have shown that people placed on hold for longer periods of time may become frustrated and even hang up
Now if you know that the information you're researching is going to take a longer period of time to put together
Inform the caller of this and see if they would like to remain on hold or if they would prefer that you take their number
And call them back now if you place a person on hold to transfer them to another section of your company
Watch and see if that call is answered within 30 or 40 seconds if it's not take a message
Remember when you place a caller on hold you are responsible for seeing that that call is answered
The last segment we need to deal with concerning handling incoming calls is how to deal with the i-rate customer
Shipping brad
This is kent mosby at industrial technologies. I placed an order last week for some bearings for a client
hold on
Industrial technologies
Industrial technologies your purchase order never mind. I found it
You ordered six four inch bearings. That's right. That's what I ordered what I received was four six inch bearings
So we were off by a couple inches everybody makes mistakes
But your mistake is costing me business. I have a client with a piece of machinery
He can't operate because I can't get him the bearings he needs
And if I can't get him what he wants, you'll have to get him somewhere else. I've got to have those bearings today
Well, look, I just can't stop everything to fill your order. I got a lot of customers to deal with
Uh, try to have them out by tomorrow afternoon
tomorrow afternoon
That's just not acceptable. My client can't wait that long. Well, that's the best I can do
I don't know what else I can tell you. Well, I certainly know what to tell you
You now there is an eight-step procedure that you should follow when you're dealing with someone that's upset
And the first step is don't buy into it
What I mean when I say this is don't get involved in a shouting match over the telephone
You will only add fuel to the fire and in the end both you and your company will lose
Instead of participating in a verbal jousting match
Listen to the caller's complaint
Often when a person has a chance to get something off their chest, they will be more receptive to solutions that you may offer
Next show empathy not sympathy
Sympathy tends to show agreement with the person whereas empathy will let the caller know you acknowledge that there is a problem
Tell the person you apologize or regret the inconvenience
And then work towards a solution
One way to defuse a caller's anger is to ask questions
By asking a question the person has to stop and think about an answer and it will also show them you have a genuine interest
in resolving the difference
The next step is to offer options
Tell the caller what you can do instead of what you cannot do
If you're working in the customer service department and you receive a call concerning the
Accounting department don't tell the caller. That's not my department or you'll have to speak with the accounting department
Instead tell them if you will give me your number or your purchase order. I'll check about the status of your invoice
You now have the person working with you instead of against you
Next always move toward a positive solution
The sooner you begin resolving differences the better off you'll be
The better off you'll be a satisfied customer is one who will look to your company in the future
A dissatisfied customer is one who will look elsewhere
This next step may seem somewhat ironic, but you should always thank the person for calling
Now you may say
Why would I want to thank someone who has just spent the last few moments chewing my ear off?
The fact of the matter is often a person who is calling to complain may alert you to problems
Within your company that no one else had realized existed by confronting the issue and constructively
Solving the problem. You may have an important impact on the future operations and profitability of your company
Ultimately, it will reflect positively on you and your career with that company
The last step and probably the most crucial is to follow through on your commitment
Never promise something you can't deliver just to calm an irate caller
Shipping this is brad brad. This is kent mosby at industrial technologies
I placed an order last week for some bearings for a client
What I ordered was six four inch bearings what I received was four six inch bearings
Okay, if you'll give me your purchase order number. I'll see if the order was entered correctly
Okay, here it is. You ordered six four inch bearings and you were shipped. Oh
Four six inch bearings. I am very sorry
Well, i'll redo this order immediately and i'll have it on the first truck in the morning
You should receive the correct order by noon
But my client has an expensive piece of machinery
He can't operate because I can't get him the bearings he needs
I've got to have that order today
Well, all of our trucks are out right now, but I could send it by courier. If that'd be all right
After all it was our mistake. That's great brad
It's for your help. Well, you're welcome. And thank you. I assure you that in the future we'll be more careful
Before we move on
I'd like you to think about this statement that pretty much sums up what we've discussed in the first part of our program
A satisfied customer will tell four other people about your company
But a dissatisfied customer will tell 10 other people
What we discussed in the first part of our program was how to handle various types of incoming calls
Now we need to learn how to place a phone call
Mr. Woodson, i've been using the telephone to call friends since I was in elementary school
How much different can it be to use the phone to call friends?
School how much different can it be to use the phone to call other businesses?
Well while the basic procedures are the same there are several other differences
For example when you called your friend, you probably weren't dialing long distance or dialing across different time zones
No, my friend just lived a couple of blocks from me. I just picked up the receiver and dialed the number
How did you know what number to dial? I looked in the telephone directory
Aha the good old telephone directory. Do you realize that you were using one of the most effective companion tools of the business telephone?
The telephone directory provides a wealth of information for organizations doing business on a local level
It's divided into two sections the white pages and the yellow pages
The white pages contain telephone numbers of residents listed alphabetically by the last name of the occupant
And subsequent listings are then alphabetized by the person's first name or initial
The yellow pages are also listed alphabetically
But by the service or product supplied
For instance, if you were looking for off furniture, you would turn to the yellow page section with the heading of office
Subheadings may contain listings for businesses that provide furniture office space or supplies
Words such as the or a that precede a company name are usually dropped
Your telephone directory also contains listings for a number of services provided by that company
Located in the first section of your phone book
You will find telephone numbers for emergency services such as police fire or ambulance
Listings for community service organizations area codes for major cities nationwide
And numbers for local and national directory assistance
Now that we have a working knowledge of the telephone directory, let's examine what the telephone number consists of
Local numbers or numbers in your specific calling area consist of a seven digit number
The first three numbers are the code for the local exchange
The last four numbers are the individual line
There are no extended charges for these calls and they can be placed by simply dialing the seven digit number
When placing calls outside your local calling area, you are assessed a fee in addition to the standard telephone company charge
These calls can be accomplished two different ways
The first and the least expensive is direct dialing which simply means you dial the number yourself without having the operator help you
These calls can be made if you are within the same area code by dialing a one and then the seven digit number
Calls placed outside of your area code require dialing a one
Then the area code for the region you are dialing then the seven digit number
Another way to place long-distance calls is called operator assisted calling
Now this is the most expensive form of calling and it should only be used when you're having trouble completing your call
Or if you want to make a special service call such as person to person
Mr. Woodson, what is a person to person call?
That's when the person placing the call only wishes to speak to a certain number of people
That's when the person placing the call only wishes to speak to a certain individual at the company contacted
Now if that individual is unavailable, you won't be charged for the call
Knowing the various options of long-distance calling will save you time and your company money
Now we've discussed using the telephone directory the parts of the telephone number and how to dial long distance
Now let's take a look at a couple of ways to make the business telephone communication more efficient
Many businesses are conducted on a nationwide scale and you must take into consideration the differences in time
There can be as much as three hours variance between east coast and west coast
Say your business is located in california and you need to call to someone in new york
Be sure that you remember to schedule the call
During the hours that your new york counterparts will be in their office remember california is three hours behind east coast time
And also remember to schedule your calls when your new york counterparts won't be away at lunch
One other way to use the business telephone efficiently is referred to as the r and r method
R and r stands for research information and rehearse presentation
Now these are some of the simplest yet least utilized means of reducing the amount of time spent conducting business communications
For example, you may need to return a call to a customer who's checking on the status of an order
Now the first thing you do is contact your accounting or your data entry department and get a copy of the purchase order
Next call shipping or the warehouse and find out if the merchandise has been sent out
And if it hasn't find out the reasons for the delay
Then when you return the call to the customer you'll be armed with all the information you need to handle any question that they might pose
The second part of the r and r method concerns planning exactly what you want to accomplish
With any phone call take a few moments and write out questions or key points that you wish to convey
By creating a guideline and sticking with it. It will help you to avoid unnecessary
Conversation that doesn't pertain to the business at hand
Remember long distance phone calls are billed by the minute and anything that you can do to keep your conversation to a minimum
Will result in savings for your company and speaking of savings some companies have 800 numbers
With an 800 number the company who has them has to pay for the cost of the call
To find out if the company you need to contact has an 800 number dial 800 information at 1-800-555-1212
Before we close today, I would like you to consider this
It is estimated that over 75 percent of entry-level jobs in the next few years will in some way
involve using the telephone
receptionist
secretaries pbx operators
customer service representatives
Telemarketers and a host of others will all need to make use of the skills. We have been presented with here today
By following these simple guidelines you can open the door to a world of opportunities
Telecommunications, thank you for attending our telephone techniques seminar
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What you don't know
Won't hurt you each year over five billion pounds of toxic chemicals are released into the air in the united states
These emissions cause over 2 000 cancer deaths a year. No news
Is good news our nation is littered with over 300 000 hazardous waste sites which leak poisons into the water supply of
120 million americans
Three out of five americans live in an area where the air is contaminated beyond federal health standards
Chances are the air the water or the land where you live is endangering the health of you and your family in
1986 a law was passed that gives you the right to know if the area in which you live is contaminated by toxic chemicals
Wouldn't you like to know?
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