Bad Telephone Habits to Avoid
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There are few things more annoying than being on the phone with someone who lacks good telephone skills. With e-mail being used more frequently, people have forgotten how to speak on the phone. They answer the phone with anything from a terse ‘hello’ to a mumbled “yeah?” and say ‘good bye’ as they toss the phone at the receiver (clunk, slam) —if they say ‘good bye’ at all.
How you interact with someone on the phone is critical to your success. Just one bad phone call can cost you an client, annoy your boss or mar the reputation of the entire company.
Here are some bad habits to avoid when using the phone:
Waiting more than three rings to answer. Answer in as few rings as possible.
Answering with a grunted ‘hello’. The caller will begin to evaluate the quality of the organization from the quality of the voice answering the phone. ‘Good morning, Widgets R Us’, how may I help you?’ is much better than, ‘Widgets R Us, please hold.’
Speaking with the transmitter under your chin, or anywhere except directly in front of your mouth. If the transmitter is held away from your mouth, you risk not being understood. Keep in mind that speaking on the telephone requires better articulation than is necessary in face-to-face conversations.
Trying to figure out the phone system with a caller on the line. Nothing is more aggravating to a caller than being cut off as the person on the other end tries to transfer a call. The time to learn your telephone features is ahead of time. Don’t practice on the caller. Be familiar with all of the features.
Banging the receiver on the desk or back onto the phone cradle. The handset of a phone contains a transmitter. Dropping the thing onto a surface or banging into something as you pick it up transmits and amplifies the noise to the listener.
Eating or drinking while talking on the phone. Ditto the above point. Nobody wants to hear you slurping or crunching carrots while they are trying to speak. If your mouth is full when the telephone rings, wait a few seconds before answering.
Holding side conversations with the person at the next desk. Your caller deserves your full attention. Do not try to carry on two conversations at the same time.
Discussing the other party without checking if they are on hold. It would be embarrassing if you told a co-worker that a caller didn’t sound too smart, only to discover the caller was listening.
Not waiting for an answer after asking the caller if they can hold. Too often you hear, ‘please hold’ and the person is gone. When you ask the caller to hold, wait for them to respond.
Losing track of someone on hold. If you manage a switchboard with a lot of incoming calls, track and prioritize who is on hold. It is irrating to answer the question, ‘Who are you holding for?’ several times.
Proper telephone technique is essential to providing quality customer service. Simple attention to these techniques will make for effective telephone communication.
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Personally, there is nothing I detest more than when I’m speaking to someone on the phone and they are carrying on conversations in the background. I will roll my eyes when it’s a business call, but my friends know they’ll get a tongue-lashing if they pull that crap.
These are all fairly common sense tips, but good to know for those of us who don’t think about our phone etiquette enough or how we’re coming across on the phone.