Telephone Etiquette: Train Your Employees

Every time you answer the telephone in your business office - there is always a chance that you either make or break any customer relationship you have with the person on the other line. The way that you talk or address them on the line significantly plays a role in any outcome - whether good or bad - from the conversation.

Whoever answers the business telephone - every word and gesture provided validates the image of your company. And regardless of business type you have - it is therefore important that everybody in your office knows the basic phone etiquette tips - or else lose those important clients.

To avoid that - be sure to train them of the following:

Using the Phone Properly

Whenever there is a new member in your business team - don't always let them handle the phones without properly training them. If you cannot do it - let other experienced employees teach them the proper etiquette when answering calls. Even if the new employee has worked in an office where they frequently handle the telephones - it is vital that you introduce your own etiquette tips as your system may work differently or that your telephone has different functions and works differently from the phones they previously had worked with.

Before you let them handle the telephones - it is best that they are totally aware of the kind of business you have so that they will know how to address the person calling or transfer them to other lines. Training new employees may cost you more paid office hours - however - remember that in the long run it is you who will be benefiting from this simple task.

Promptly Answering the Calls

It is not a good practice to keep the telephone ringing for long. It will make the person on the line wondering if they have dialed wrongly and thus may make them hang up the phone to check. If the phone rings - don't wait until the fifth ring to answer. The sooner it is handled - the better. Remember that you can lose customers that quickly if they keep wondering whether there is anyone available to pick the phone up.

Greeting Callers Professionally

It is a good practice to greet nicely and professionally the caller first before anything else. If the employee has trouble greeting the customers on the line properly - you can make a script and place it near the equipment. It will help eliminate any possibilities of improper greetings. Also - it ensures uniformity on how the company is initially handling calls.

Smiling While on the Telephone

They never see it - but they always sense when a smile is on the face of the person talking on the phone with the customers. You might not know it - but human voices turn pleasant as the person who is speaking is also smiling. Be sure to let your employees use this practice when they answer the telephones. Apply it to yourself as well and you will find how effective this tip is.

These telephone etiquette tips are simple matters but they can provide significant impact to the welfare of your business. If these are regularly practiced - you will see a positive impact and discover that no business has ever gone down due to proper telephone etiquette and usage.

On the other hand - any business company will easily be in trouble once these etiquette practices are neglected by the employees even with as simply as missing out to greet properly the customers.