Telephone Etiquette

1
Telephone Etiquette
2
Who Is On The Phone

• In most phone conversations, the listener
  typically cannot see you your message is
  communicated by your voice!

3
How To Answer The Phone

• Proper telephone etiquette in a professional
  business setting begins by stating the company
  name first followed by a greeting and the name of
  the individual answering the call.
• EXAMPLE Nordstrom, Good Morning, this is
  Kelly
• If the organization does not require the use of
  the company name in the greeting, the person
  answering the phone should identify themselves.
• EXAMPLE Good morning, Jessica Madden
  speaking or Jessica Madden speaking

4
When Others Answer

• If someone else is answering a phone other than
  their own, the proper etiquette is to answer with
  a greeting followed by the name of the person for
  whom the phone is being answered.
• EXAMPLE Good afternoon, this is Elizabeth
  Smiths office, how may I help you?
•  
• Remember that international phone calls may have
  a lag between the time when someone speaks and
  the listener can actually hear what was spoken.
  Be patient and make sure that you allow time for
  the speaker to finish speaking before you try to
  speak.

5
Speaker Phone Warning

• If you place someone on speaker phone, you should
  inform the individual that he or she is on
  speaker phone before continuing with a
  conversation!

6
Basic Tips for Business Chats

1. Take note of your voice. Speak clearly.
2. Do not be eating and talking at the same.
3. Always be courteous and respectful. Use please
   and thank you, and avoid interrupting while the
   other party is speaking.
4. Avoid answering the phone if about to cough or
   sneeze.
5. Do not raise your voice.

7
Basic Tips for Business Chats

1. Keep personal phone calls out of the office- and
   keep your private cell phone calls private.
   Avoid personal calls and discussions in the
   office!
2. When you are making a call, it is good business
   phone etiquette to always identify yourself to
   the first recipient "This is Mary-Kate, May I
   speak to Nicole Richie please?"
3. If you answer the phone it is not good telephone
   manners to say "She is not in" without giving a
   reason. Instead, say something such as, He is in
   a meeting, may I please take a message? OR,
   She is out of the office at the moment but I
   will be happy to leave her a message or put you
   through to her voice mail.

8
Activity

• Students draw upon their personal experiences and
  list an example of the following poor customer
  service experiences they had on the telephone
  with a business. Give one example for each and
  briefly state how it made you feel as a customer
  and how you think the situation SHOULD have been
  handled.
• Put on hold for a long time
• Employee did not properly identify the business
  or themselves when answering the phone.
• Tone of voice of the business representative was
  unpleasant or rude.
• You had a difficult time hearing the business
  representative or understanding what they were
  saying.