What is phone call etiquette?
Phone call etiquette is make or break when it comes to customer connections. The phrase encompasses the attitude and mannerisms conveyed through the phone. Phone call etiquette ultimately affects the customer experience, playing a pivotal role in business success.
Why is this so important? Often, a phone call is a customer’s first experience with your business. This can leave a lasting impression on the customer, and can determine whether or not they would like to give your company their business.
72% of customers will tell six or more people if they had a good customer experience. Not only does improving your phone call etiquette impact the customer’s experience, but it can have a ripple effect on your business’s reputation.
“Having exceptional customer service should be an integral part of every business strategy. The benefits go far-beyond providing customers with a pleasant experience. It’s free marketing for your business.”
– Natalie Ruiz, CEO at AnswerConnect
In this article, we’ll share our top four tips to improve your phone etiquette, and provide actionable items to help you implement these. This article will cover the importance of:
- Prompt answering
- Active listening
- Hold and transfer etiquette
- Professionalism
1. Answer promptly
When it comes to phone etiquette, the very first rule is to answer the phone, and answer it promptly.
Imagine you’re visiting a friend and you knock on their door when you arrive. If they make you wait outside for five minutes – you’re likely to grow frustrated. The longer they leave you waiting, the more frustrated you’ll grow. However, if your friend was to answer straight away, you would only experience positive emotions.
It’s not only the customer experience that comes into play with answering promptly. You’re also likely to increase sales. A study by InsideSales.com found that conversion rates are 8x more likely when you connect to the customer within the first 5 minutes of them calling.
Creating an impactful customer experience through the phone starts before you even answer. But the question remains, how do you answer every call promptly?
How to answer promptly.
Doing it Yourself
Answering promptly means to answer within the first few rings. To do this yourself, you’ll need to make sure your phone is always on your person with the volume up.
Alternatively, if you have a few team members, you could set up an on-call system, in which your customers will be routed to the team member whose on-call.
Of course, this doesn’t mean every call will be answered promptly. What happens if you receive a call whilst already on the phone to another customer? Or if the phone rings whilst you’re in the bathroom?
There is another solution…
Outsourcing
We recommend using a 24/7 live call answering service. This service acts as the voice of your business, answering your incoming calls and chats around the clock. Professional virtual receptionists provide:
- 24/7 live call answering,
- Live chat communication,
- Appointment scheduling,
- Call routing and transfer,
- Order taking,
and so much more.
2. Practice active listening
Active listening is key to enhancing your phone call etiquette. It helps you be fully present in the conversation, benefitting both you and the customer.
Verywell Mind describes active listening as: “A communication skill that involves going beyond simply hearing the words that another person speaks. It’s about actively processing and seeking to understand the meaning and intent behind them.”
Active listening can improve your productivity, strengthen relationships and help you to avoid any conflict. As an answering service, our team of virtual receptionists are experts in active listening, practicing it every day. See our top tips below to help you improve your active listening.
How to actively listen.
Follow these simple tips to improve your active listening skills:
- Smile whilst conversing, this will be translated through your tone.
- Ensure you have an upright posture to help you focus.
- Don’t interrupt the conversation. Talk only when the customer has stopped.
- Rephrase key points for confirmation.
- Stay focused. Minimize external distractions.
- Use vocal cues such as ‘yes’ or ‘I understand’ to show you’re actively listening.
- Summarize and recap the conversation for clarity.
Forbes recommends asking your colleagues and team members to provide you with feedback on your active listening skills. Get them to listen to your call interactions, or give you feedback based on their personal experience whilst conversing with you.
3. Perfect hold and transfer phone call etiquette
When a customer is put on hold, they can be left feeling frustrated. This is especially true if they have already made efforts to connect with a real person from your business, only to encounter another hold.
Luckily, when you implement our advice from tip one, your customers won’t experience the latter part of the above situation.
Similarly to being put on hold, being transferred to multiple individuals and having to reiterate the purpose of your call can also result in a negative customer experience.
However, placing customers on hold and transferring calls is a common part of business operations, and is essential to providing effective support. So how can we ensure this process is seamless and satisfactory for the caller?
How to put customers on hold and transfer calls.
By following the below phone call etiquette tips for hold and transfer, you’ll create a more positive experience for customers.
When putting a customer on hold, you must:
- Explain why you would like to put them on hold.
- Ask for their permission to put them on hold.
Don’t leave them waiting for prolonged periods of time, if the hold session is taking longer than you thought, simply connect with the caller, thank them for waiting, and give a rough estimate for how much longer they will be on hold.
When transferring a caller to another person or department, follow the below etiquette:
- Ask permission before you transfer the call,
- Inform the caller who you’re transferring their call to and why.
- Say goodbye to the caller.
- Let the new call recipient know the caller’s name, and explain the purpose of their call so the caller doesn’t have to repeat themselves.
4. Be professional
It might sound obvious, but it’s important to keep at the forefront of your mind whilst talking to customers. Every respected brand has one thing in common, they’re professional. Being professional on phone calls is vital because it reflects the integrity and reliability of your business to customers. It builds trust, creates positive relationships, and ultimately enhances your business reputation.
How to be professional.
What better way to give professional customer service than to hire a team of trained, professional virtual receptionists to handle your incoming calls and chats?
Want to improve your professionalism over the phone too? Adopt these simple tips:
- Greet your caller by name: “Good morning Mrs Smith, how can I help you?”
- Practice active listening.
- Don’t over promise. Be transparent. Give realistic timelines.
- Stay calm, be aware of your tone and keep it steady despite the customer’s demeanor.
- Use positive language.
- Avoid slang, curse words and abbreviations.
Take the next step
Strengthen your customer relationships by perfecting your phone call etiquette. By partnering with a 24/7 live answering service, reliable virtual receptionists handle your every call. They answer promptly, are experts in active listening, follow hold and transfer etiquette, and are trained in delivering professional service.
We offer a variety of plans and pricing, suited to every type of industry. Want to find a plan that works for you?
