We can show you.

Images by Filomena Scalise / FreeDigitalPhotos.net. 

Check out more of Filomena’s work on http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=851

By F Kamaruddin

Does everyone in your organization know how to answer the telephone the way they are supposed to?

Unless you have been living the life of a hermit in a cave deep in the forest for the last few years, the amount of time you’ve spent in telephone calls would be more than five minutes a day, according to Wikianswers. Regardless of what your company does, people will call your office every day. When people deal with your organization over the telephone, what’s their experience? Is everyone managing every phone call successfully? Or do you have some people with the great knack of handling telephone calls well while the rest can’t even be trusted to answer a ringing telephone? There is a way to improve this picture. We have three rules of effective listening to help you get started now in creating a memorable positive experience for your callers.

Rule 1. Effective listening starts in your mind. An open one, that is.

The telephone is a touch point; a chance for other people to get to know your brand and what your organization is about. Granted, an incoming phone call could be a complaint, but it could also be a long-awaited special offer or a new customer who’s just heard about you. Seeing the ringing phone as the enemy that interrupts your work will stop you from listening actively to the caller’s tone and words that correctly reflect his mood. You will miss his sense of urgency or jump into the wrong conclusions. Have you ever done that? Remember, that call you pick up could be the fifth or fifteenth for you but may very well be the person’s first call of the day. How will you use that one chance for making the right first impression?

Rule 2. Listening involves more than hearing.

Peter Drucker once said, “The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.”
This means you need to really pay attention to how something is said. Let callers complete their questions and statements. Acknowledge verbally. Use recaps and probe gently to get all details. Listen to the tone of the caller’s voice to get a better idea of the mood he/she is in or if the caller’s in a rush. Keep a notepad with you to jot down key points. Check and clarify each point you noted. Even if it’s a simple task of asking the person to hold the line while you forward the call to your colleague, how you deal with the call influences the caller’s experience.

Rule 3. Listen to you, too.

How you respond to callers shapes their responses to you. Are you speaking too fast? Too loud? Too soft? Do you mumble? Does the tone of your voice sound pleasant to the ear? Is it too high? Too low? Just right? Do you sound alert or too bored to care? Your caller will hear it. Roll your shoulders back. Relax your facial muscles around your eyes and mouth before answering that phone call, and your caller will hear the smile in your voice and will feel assured that you are the right person to help her.

Next month, we’ll talk about the one ‘Do or die’ element that you need to have in place to help everyone in your organization manage all calls effectively. In the meantime, have you called your office lately? How would you rate that experience?

By F Kamaruddin

Can a “Hello” sound hostile and unwelcoming? You bet!

How many times have you experienced the following when you make a telephone call?

Andy* : Hello?
Annie : Yes?
Andy : Is William there?
Annie : William? Not here. He’s in the bathroom.
Andy : Oh. Can I leave a …
Annie : < Hangs up >
Andy : ??
* fictional characters

For many of us, the telephone is the first contact we have with an organization. As the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. And that first impression can either leave customers calling elsewhere, or have them excited about learning more about your products or services.

Making the right long-lasting first impression goes beyond answering the telephone after one or two rings and greeting callers with your company name and the customary “How can I help you?” – it involves a focus on two areas: what you say and how you say them.

Planning what to say is not just relevant to call centers where agents with telephone headsets use prepared script or checklists in most of their interactions. It’s about identifying a standard way of answering the telephone, the best words to use and the best process to manage calls (transferring or forwarding calls) from people who are calling on their valuable time.

Focusing on how you say things is as important, if not more, than identifying what to say and what to do. A key part of this is using more than your ears to listen. At the core of it is paying attention. It also involves watching out for how the caller is speaking, the words they use, and the right approach in probing for more information. From this, you can identify the right tone, volume, and even the right comforting sounds that you may need to make, in order to make the call a good experience for the customer.

Effective telephone skills can help you make a first impression that can go a long way in connecting with customers. They’re essential in handling queries and other requests for information, even if it’s just a caller looking for a colleague who is not at his desk at the moment. And if the colleague in question really does happen to be in the bathroom, it’s best to inform the caller that “William is away from his desk right now. Would you like to leave a message?” It works much better!