How to Master the Art of Using Telephone Effectively in Business Dealings? What Ettiquettes are Necessary in the Age of 4IR?
- Be Prepared
- Be Present
- Be Polite
- Be Patient
- Be Personable
- Be Professional
- Be Proactive
The telephone conversation typically includes five stages: opening, feedforward, business, feedback, and closing. Because telephone conversations lack nonverbal cues, they require additional attention to feedback.
So let's explore about Telephone Etiquettes to master it's state of the art techniques to go get extra advantage. Right...
Keywords:
Telephone Etiquettes, Corporate Conversation, Culture, Company Skills, Language, Communication
Learning Outcomes:
After undergoing this article you will be able to understand the following
While communicating over the telephone, phone etiquette is vital. The consumer evaluates you and your company based on your communication. The following example demonstrates the significance of phone etiquette training when speaking on the phone:
1. Professionalism: Your choice of words and tone of your voice is what displays your professionalism and work ethic. It also helps the caller build trust that they are in good and safe hands.
2. Impression: Telephonic communication has a long-lasting impact, so make sure you impress. Give respect to your caller and discover techniques to cultivate and maintain special client relationships.
3. Loyalty and Trust: Gaining trust and establishing a loyal relationship with your client/customer over a call is difficult but is a must if you want them to listen to you and make frequent purchases from you.
4. Customer Satisfaction: One thing that every phone etiquette training teaches you is to satisfy your customer. As a customer service executive, make sure you answer all their questions and queries to give them a great experience.
Setting aside for the moment large dial-in experiences such as presentations or meetings in which just a few people will be doing all the talking, there are five stages to one-on-one and small-group business conversations via audio:
- Openings and Greetings
- Establishing Expectations
- Content, Conversation, Business
- Wrap-up, Next Steps, and Feedback
- Closing
If you’re talking to just one or two people, calls can be pretty spontaneous. If you are talking to a larger group, these five stages assume that you have sent an invitation with some detail about the purpose, length, and expectations of the call.
Openings and Greetings
In a one-on-one call, you can simply exchange greetings as you would with a friend.
Sumit: (answering phone): Sumit here.
Priya: Hi Sumit, it’s Priya. How are you this morning?
Sumit: Hi Priya, I’m fine, how are you?
Priya: Great, thanks.
In a group call, the call host generally establishes who’s on the line and greets each person as they dial in. If the call is unusually large, the host might do a roll call to be sure everyone has dialed in.
Priya (the host of the call): Hi everyone. Thanks for calling in. I know we have Naman, Sonia, Akansha, and Rupal on the line. How are you all doing?
GROUP: Fine, great, still sleepy, etc.
Priya: Are Michael and Ginger on the call yet?
Lalit: I’m here.
Sunits: Yes, sorry I’m a bit late.
Priya: Great! Let’s get started.
Establishing Expectations
Sometimes, this is called the “feedforward” section. In this part of the call, you establish two key points: the timing of the call and the topics to be covered. It sounds simple, but it’s easy to forget, and it can lead to frustration if expectations are different among the people on the call.
In one-on-one situations, this is really all you need to do:
Priya: Do you have fifteen minutes or so to talk about the last batch of job applications we received?
Sumit: Sure. I have another call at ten o’clock, but I’m all yours until then.
In a larger group setting, you should also address how elements of the call—such as questions and answers—will be handled.
Priya: This call is scheduled to last until 11:00. What I’d like to do is to let Mohit and Anjana tell us what they learned at their store visits. Anjana will go first and tell us what she learned about merchandising and then Mohit will discuss operations. I’d like to save Q&A for the end so that both of them can get through everything they have to say.
Content, Conversation, Business
In this part of the call, the work gets done. This is the part of the call people prepare for, but it goes much more smoothly if you remember to include what comes before and what comes after.
Wrap-up, Next Steps, and Feedback
Once the business has been conducted, the final task is to recap the conversation and set next steps, if there are any. This is pretty much the same for both one-on-one and group conversations. In a group call, it’s especially important for the call leader to make sure she’s left time for this stage. It shouldn’t be rushed or feel like an afterthought.
Priya: This has been really helpful, Dave, thanks. So you will review and sort the applications for assistant manager, and I’ll go over the ones for stockroom staff, right? Then we can talk again on Friday about which ones to interview.
Sumit: Sounds good. If anymore assistant manager applications come in, just email them to me, okay? Oh, and I have a dentist appointment on Friday afternoon, but I can talk any time before 3:00.
Priya: Great, I’ll send you a meeting invite through Outlook.
Closing
This is where you say good-bye and thank you just as you would in a personal conversation.
Sumit Thanks for taking the initiative on this call. I’ll talk to you soon!
Priya: Have a great day. Bye!
Perhaps surprisingly, at a time when most businesses are increasingly reliant on technology, the human element is still the key to success. As the technical aspects of many jobs become automated, skills such as communication, teamwork and empathy are rising to the forefront in the workplace.
In a crowded job market where unemployment is continuing to rise, these so called ‘soft skills’ are the ones that will set you apart and give you a competitive advantage. Contrary to popular belief, social and interpersonal skills are not embedded in our personalities from birth – they can be learned through training and coaching.
1. Creative thinking
Creative thinking is not just relevant for those in ‘creative’ industries such as art, design or music. The ability to generate new ideas and think outside the box to come up with imaginative solutions to problems, are sought-after skills for employees in any field.
2. Communication skills
This is a huge area, encompassing not only your face-to-face interactions but also your digital communication with clients, colleagues, team members and senior managers. Being able to present information in a clear, accurate and appropriate manner will help you advance your career and improve your relationships.
3. Time management
Knowing how to organise both your daily and long-term schedule to get your projects done efficiently and on time is particularly important when so many people are working remotely. Are you disciplined enough to set goals for yourself and focus on your work without a manager looking over your shoulder?
4. A growth mindset
People with a growth mindset are motivated to learn new skills to adapt to changes and reach higher levels of achievement. They recognise that learning is a life-long process and that investing in yourself is essential if you want to get ahead.
5. Adaptability
This past year has highlighted the need for employees to cope well with change in the workplace. Having the ability to respond effectively even when things don’t go as planned and embracing new ways of working are also key for anyone in a leadership position.
6. Emotional intelligence (EQ)
Professional networking site LinkedIn identified emotional intelligence as one of the top five soft skills employers were looking for in 2020 and its importance has not diminished in the last 12 months. Emotional intelligence refers to your ability to recognise and manage both your own and other people’s emotions. Highly developed EQ skills enable you look at situations from other perspectives, treat your co-workers with empathy and better navigate the interpersonal relationships that develop in the workplace.
7. Collaboration
‘Team work makes the dream work’ but sometimes collaborating with your co-workers is easier said than done. Learning to trust others, exchanging ideas and working as a group will pave the way for a more productive, efficient and harmonious workplace.
8. Active listening
Being an active listener is not just about concentrating on what the other person is saying. You have to engage in the conversation by asking questions, making eye contact and nodding. Perhaps most importantly, active listening means withholding judgement about what is being said and not interrupting to make your own point. In short: listen to understand, not to respond.
1. Be Prepared
With all the other communication alternatives provided to consumers now, such as email, chat, and online forms, when a person makes the decision to pick up the phone and call your company, they are looking for an immediate response.
If customer experience is at the top of your agenda, then you need to be prepared to answer your calls by having an educated staff and making sure that they are giving your callers a consistent call experience by being conscientious of the number of rings on average it takes for someone to speak with a person in your establishment.
2. Be Present
There is nothing like speaking with someone on the phone that you perceive is not present during your call. We don’t care for it during personal calls—ever had to ask someone if they were talking to you or their dog? And, we certainly don’t like it on business calls.
What are the tell-tale signs that someone is not present during a call?
- They ask why you are calling when you already stated why at the beginning of the call.
- They ask you for your name multiple times during the conversation.
3. Be Polite
Being polite isn’t just about saying “please, excuse me, and thank you.” It is about giving your caller the same respect and consideration that you would expect someone to give you when you are trying to conduct business over the phone.
Many people think that answering phones is something that anyone can do. Sure, anyone can pick up a phone and answer it, but not everyone has the personality or customer service skills to properly handle upset customers and remain professional on the phone call.
When we hire phone agents, we look for those individuals who know how tough it can be to serve the public, but still love to do it anyway. Why? Because these individuals have an innate knack for giving customers a consistent experience no matter the context of the call. We highly recommend that you look for the same type of staff to monitor your phones too.
4. Be Patient
Patience requires you to be steady, even-tempered, and avoid provocation.
Impatience is said to occur when we perceive that something is blocking us from attaining a goal. One way to combat impatience when answering your phone lines is to disconnect mentally from all other projects.
When you hear the phone ring, train your brain to switch priorities to pleasing the caller on the line. This can help you remain focused on the task at hand. Focusing on the caller will allow you to provide your customers with a professional phone call.
5. Be Personable
There is no doubt that a disconnect exists while conducting business over the phone. Because of this, being personable on a call requires you to utilize your communication skills to their fullest. It is important to remember that every voice that you hear belongs to an actual person. And, that each person can have a very significant impact on your business, should you fail make a connection with them at some level during your conversation.
Simple things like using the caller’s name, carefully watching the inflections in your voice, and verbally checking back with an “mm hmm, ok,” or immediate responses to questions, are a few ways that you can make a stronger, more personable connection with your caller.
6. Be Professional
Your communication skills play a massive role in your professionalism over the phone. Your tone, your pitch, the rate at which you speak, your articulation, your pronunciation, and your diction all matter.
On top of lowering your professionalism, when you act out with poor body language during a call, it can affect the way that you project your voice. And, as it turns out, most people are pretty perceptive at reading your emotions, even when they can’t see you.
Every person that reaches your business should be treated professionally, even if you can’t see them.
7. Be Proactive
One thing that is universal among all callers is their dislike for feelings of uncertainty after a business call has ended. For example, while we make it a point to get to know as much as we can about our customers’ businesses—it is impossible for us to know everything about all of them.
Because of this, we understand that we will not be able to resolve every call, and we have established protocols for taking excellent messages with pertinent information, in addition to taking added steps to proactively assure the caller that we will be moving their call down the pipeline.
While taking an excellent message is a vital component of call handling, a message is meant to assist internal operations. No matter how good a message is, it will do nothing for your caller’s peace of mind.
This is why at the end of each call, our callers are armed with two things; the agent's name who handled their call, and where their message is going to go once it leaves our hands. You should never let a call end without assuring your caller that you are proactively taking steps to help them resolve their issue. This is bad business telephone etiquette, and will lead to a poor caller experience.
When trying to improve your business telephone etiquette:
- It is important that you do everything in your power to avoid impeding the flow of communication.
- Always keep in mind that effective business telephone etiquette requires you to be: prepared, present, polite, patient, personable, professional, proactive.
- Lapsing on any of the 7 p’s can have a negative impact on your caller experience, which can lead to a negative impact on your company image, and ultimately negatively affect your bottom line.
Q. Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?
This is one of the top phone interview questions, and it can get tricky, especially if you didn’t parting ways with your last organization on the best of terms. Don’t say anything that will make the new company question whether that same situation could make an encore appearance.
Here are the list of best answers: Select which answer resembles with your situations.
1. Corporate layoffs that left you out of work
2. Company acquisition or merger that made you reconsider your options
3. Department restructuring that affected your position
4. Seeking better career opportunities
5. Switching to another industry
6. Seeking professional development
7. Preference for a different work environment
8. Seeking a pay increase
9. Difficult family or personal circumstances
10. Bankruptcy of the company you worked for
11. Moving to a different state or city
12. Seeking a better work-life balance
13. Learning about an exciting opportunity
14. Firing or contract termination
[1] Whistleout.com. (2020). You Will Spend 76,500 Hours, or Almost 9 Years of Your Life, Using Your Mobile Device [online]. Available Accessed December 12, 2022].
[2] Williams, Howard. (2018). Fall of the Call: What the Decline in Voice Calls Means for Business [online]. Available [Accessed August 23, 2021].
[3] C., Andy. (2017). Top 10 Smartphone Uses [online]. Available [Accessed August 23, 2021].
[4] Kraus, M. W. (2017). 'Voice-Only Communication Enhances Empathic Accuracy,' American Psychologist, 72(7), 644-654. Available. [Accessed August 23, 2021].
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