Telephone Etiquette Essentials for Customer Service Roles
Telephone Etiquette Essentials for Customer Service Roles
Brought to you by: Rosy King @ Corporate Training Options
Telephone Etiquette essentials for Customer Service roles include having a great attitude, being consistent in your delivery and understanding customer behavioural styles. If you’re in a call centre team, or other roles within your organisation where you interact with your customers by phone, you need high level skills in these areas.
No matter how rehearsed, experienced or confident you are, providing amazing customer experiences over the phone can be a lot of pressure.
After all, you are the first impression a customer has of you, your organisation and your brand. Therefore, communicating effectively, taking ownership of the call and letting your professionalism shine through is crucial.
So here’s our A-Game Telephone Etiquette Essentials for Customer Service Roles.
Because, whether your organisation is big or small, anyone who answers your phones needs to have top level skills in telephone etiquette.
Attitude is everything
Let me be frank. Some days you may not be not feeling well, or you may not understand your customer’s question or issue. These are just two variables you have to contend with every day and identify almost instantly.
So dust yourself off and pull up your socks because as a Telephone Customer Service Officer, your attitude is a huge key to your success.
When you do answer a call, make sure you’re enthusiastic and helpful without being insincere.
A great habit to develop is to practice smiling while you speak over the phone to bring out that warm, caring and professional personality of yours.
Identifying customer behaviour styles in 5 seconds or less
Being able to identify your caller’s behaviour style is critical, and you only have a few seconds to do it. It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution either because we all have different personalities, questions and needs.
Some people who are calling may be upset. Telling them to calm down is the worst thing you can do. Others may be time-poor and in a hurry, or alternatively, talkative. Still others may think they know more than you.
As a Telephone Customer Service officer, don’t take anything personally.
What you need to do is be able to identify this customer behaviour, acknowledge it and then provide your solution in a calm, pleasant and professional manner. You see, the chances are the caller is not angry with you, they’re just having a bad day and taking it out on you.
The thing is, being able to identify a customer’s behaviour style and solve their problem isn’t as easy as it sounds. It’s a skill that requires special techniques and training, which you can learn in a course such as our Telephone Courtesy and Customer Service training.
Systems of consistency
When people call your business, they are goal orientated. They have a reason for calling.
Some may want more information. Others may have a problem or want to speak with someone specific in your company. Still others might just want to make an appointment.
Therefore, having a system for every phone call is essential.
Without a system in place for taking customers calls, you’ll come off as unprofessional and disorganised. Ultimately this can affect your customer’s experience, your brand, your reputation and maybe even your sales.
However, with Telephone Courtesy and Customer Service training, you won’t have any of those problems.
You’ll learn how to put a system process in place, so each caller receives the same level of service and professionalism.
You’ll also reduce call times.
Answering the phone will also be a lot less confusing for your staff, and you’ll save time training new team members. You’ll have systems in place to cover telephone etiquette in all customer service roles.
Get Organised
Answering the phone takes a lot of organisation. There are some great resources and tools at your disposal. The problem is many staff members do not take the time to learn how to use these tools effectively.
So even after attending training, without proper organisation, many call centre staff go back to doing the same old things, the same old way.
They can, however, change their ways, with tools such as:
- Organised scripts which guide them on how to provide telephone etiquette as soon as they answer the phone.
- A list of commonly asked questions, and the answers to them.
- Guidelines on how to forward calls to other team members if required.
- A clear desk and access to a pen and paper, or Microsoft Word on their screens, if they need to take notes.
All of these simple things, which can be very easily provided, are essential to your team being organised.
Provide Premium service
Many businesses think that their excellent service is what separates their organisation from their competitors. I have to disagree. You need to have more than that.
When you consider I can buy a book on Amazon and have it delivered to almost anywhere in the world within 24 hours, then you’ll understand that premium service is not necessarily a point of difference. It’s just expected in any business these days.
However, one way you can differentiate your business is by having a better understanding of your customers. This will enable your team to provide friendly, professional solutions over the phone, which can satisfy your customers’ requirements.
With professional training in Telephone Etiquette and Customer Service, your call centre team and any other team members who speak with customers on the phone, can take your customer service to entirely new levels.
Want to learn more about providing Telephone Etiquette in Customer Service roles?
We have a training course available for you, where you’ll learn how to:
- Define quality customer service
- Employ nine necessary but important telephone skills
- Professionally manage complex customer telephone calls
- Manage various customer behaviour styles on the telephone
- Interpret customer wants and deliver positive customer service actions
- And learn some of the systems you can put in place, so people calling remember you, your company, your brand and your awesome customer service for all the right reasons.
If you’re ready to upgrade your skills to provide powerhouse Telephone Etiquette and Customer Service, or you wish to tackle some new challenges, contact CTO today for friendly, professional advice.
We’ll discuss your specific needs, and tailor a training course to suit your requirements.
