I don’t know about you, but for me the telephone, as necessary as it is, it is often a source of irritation at work. And at home for that matter. Alex Bell’s invention is truly a marvel of technology. The problem is the people who use it.
A debt of gratitude is owed to The College of Business at the University of Missouri for their recently issued publication titled “Telephone Etiquette.” Working from their advice, here’s an edited version of the guidelines:
1. Be aware of your ‘voice impression’ (i.e. slow down, speak clearly, maintain volume and modulate your voice.) Listen to yourself on an answering machine.
2. ALWAYS identify yourself and your affiliation.
3. Respect the time of others. Always ask if the person you are calling has time to talk.
4. If you have to put someone on hold state how long the “hold” will be and stick to it. Never leave the call hanging in limbo. When you return to the line, say, “Thanks for waiting.”
5. When screening calls, ask, “Who is calling, please,” rather than “Who is this?”
6. Use these phrases: “One moment please”, “Yes”, “All right”, “She’s not available now,” “Good-bye.” DO NOT use: “Hang on,” “Yeah”, “Okey-doke,” and “Uh-dunno where he is”.
7. If you reach an answering machine, leave a message. Be succinct; explain whether you are returning a call or asking for a call back (be sure to leave a number, stated slowly and distinctly); and give the date and time.
8. If you get one of those damnable auto-voices that gives you a number of options, don’t smash the phone; grit your teeth, hang on. You either comply or see your call result in zero. If you finally reach a real, live human person remember chances are it’s not his fault. Be nice and follow points one through seven above.
The world of work would be much more efficient and pleasant if we would all take heed of the advice.
Share with other bloggers you pet complaints about lack of telephone etiquette and suggestions for better manners.
I wish you success!
Ramon
Dear Ramon,
Until recently I had worked as a banker in the call center of a large financial institution. We’re all customers too, so here are a few tips to getting what you want with less time on hold.
1. Don’t call while eating lunch. Both myself and my coworkes have placed callers on hold simply because we could hear the food more than the conversation.
2. When calling to have an issue resolved, be as pleasant as possible. Prefacing the conversation with, “I know it’s not your fault, but…” will give you the listening ear you want and free her creativity to resolve the issue.
3. Don’t demand that service charges be refunded. The person you’re making the demand from has the power to help or hinder your request. My most memorable refund was for a rather large amount, refunded to a woman who started the conversation with, “Basically, I’ve come to beg for mercy.” She got what she asked for.
Dear Ramon,
Until recently I had worked as a banker in the call center of a large financial institution. We’re all customers too, so here are a few tips to getting what you want with less time on hold.
1. Don’t call while eating lunch. Both myself and my coworkes have placed callers on hold simply because we could hear the food more than the conversation.
2. When calling to have an issue resolved, be as pleasant as possible. Prefacing the conversation with, “I know it’s not your fault, but…” will give you the listening ear you want and free her creativity to resolve the issue.
3. Don’t demand that services charges be refunded. The person you’re making the demand from has the power to help or hinder your request. My most memorable refund was for a rather large amount, refunded to a woman who started the conversation with, “Basically, I’ve come to beg for mercy.” She got what she asked for.
Ramon
You can add to the list of rude people and telephones:
The person who shouts at the phone as if it couldn’t carry the voice in a conversational volume over the wires or via the ethernet.
The person who stands by my desk and listens while I am having a phone coversation. He usually pretends as if he isn’t listening.