How to Improve Telephone Manners

Most people take speaking on the telephone for granted, it’s almost never taught as a skill and most are expected to just get on with it. To make matters harder those who can provide you with really good feedback i.e. the person at the other end of the phone, never get the chance to do so.

Here are our tips for successful telephone conversations –

Be polite and friendly – open the conversation with a greeting and close it with a thank you. Always check if it is convenient for the conversation to happen now.

Be prepared – have notes on the person / company being called, especially products and services.

Minimize the use of ‘On Hold’ – sometimes it cannot be avoided but keep it to a minimum.

If you don’t know – don’t be afraid to take down the customer query, and be prepared to find out and call them back.

Re-enforce your company name – always use your company name when answering the telephone.

1. The New Year is an excellent time to "touch base" with all those people who you did business with during 2010. Take the opportunity to remind those businesses you have worked with over the last 12 months you are still up and running, bid them a Happy New Year, and get your firm in the front of their memory to kick start a successful year in 2011.
2. Stocking up. People's stockings may have been filled over Christmas, but are yours? After the hectic festive period and the shopping boom of the post Christmas sales, do you have the business support to handle the orders in January and February?
   

Snow predicted across much of the UK next week - widespread travel chaos is expected over Northern and Eastern areas.

Business continuity planning for weather affected businesses, provide us with a list of staff and their home numbers and then divert your phones through to a dedicated number for our staff to answer according to your needs.

Call the Virtual Business Centre now on 08080 510866

Our inbound call center receptionists can not only handle your calls by taking messages, responding to enquiries or transfering calls to the correct individuals but can also take caller details and enter them directly into your website.

These caller details might be exhibition bookings, sales orders, diary bookings/cancellations or just general enquiries.

Using a real person to handle the interaction with your customer means that the data being recorded is already qualified and tested. There will be fewer errors and in instances where a customer feels unwilling or confused about the online form, there can be re-assurance and explaination to help out.