Phone etiquette is the way you use manners to represent yourself and your business to customers via phone communication

1. PHONE
ETIQUETTE
Phone etiquette is the way you use manners to represent
yourself and your business to customers via phone
communication

2. HANDLING INBOUND CALLS
THE PRACTICES AND FORMS PRESCRIBED TO BE PROFESSIONAL ON CALL
 Importance of Phone Etiquette – Why?
 Pre Call Preparation
 Call Opening
 Conversing with Customer
 Hold Procedure
 Call Closure
 Six Pillars Of Customer Service

3. IMPORTANCE OF PHONE ETIQUETTE – WHY?
 Answer Quickly
 Greet Calls Courteously
 Smile as You Speak Clearly
 Ask Permission & Say Thanks
 Never Interrupt
 Stay Focused
 Recap Key Facts
 Close With Positive Note
A single phone call can be the deciding factor on whether you gain or lose a
customer

4. PRE CALL PREPARATION
 Feel good about your work
 Have a positive attitude
 Make sure your Computer & Headset are working fine
 Be prepared with the tools/props relates to process
 Reverse your attitude towards work – Observe the daily updates
without fail

5. CALL OPENING
YOUR VOICE IS YOUR COMPANY
 The first impression of your customer gets of your company, is the first 15 secs
of your interaction
 Your voice is your communication tool, hence keep it honed (sharp) & polished
at all times (clear tone & pitch)
 Voice will always convey your body language & attitude
 A good voice is clear, articulate (ability to speak fluently), courteous & charming
OPENING YOUR CALL
 Warm & professional greeting
 Identify Yourself
 Be enthusiastic

6. CONVERSING WITH CUSTOMER
 RESPECT  Be respectful to the customer (Customer
service is like a mirror if caller felt unrespectable same will
be given to agent)
 POLITENESS  Be genuinely polite in your tone. Let the
customer “hear” politeness in your voice
 PATIENCE  Be patience with the customers and do not
sound rude, annoyed (irritated) or abrupt (unexpected)
 TONE & ENTHUSIASM  Remember to maintain
enthusiasm and excitement in your tone

7. HOLD PROCEDURE
 ASK PERMISSION
It’s the simple difference between “I’m going to place you on hold” and
“Is it okay if I place you on hold?” Yes, the difference may seem small,
but it’s very significant.
 PROVIDE A TIME FRAME
“May I place you on hold for a about a minute or two while I take a
look into that for you?” Not only are you showing respect through
asking permission, but you are offering a time frame within which you
expect to get the work done in order to get back to the call.

8.  RETURN TO THE CALL IN THE TIME FRAME
GIVEN : Be sure to return to the call in order to both inform the
caller that you’ll need additional time and to provide a new time
frame within which you expect to be finished.
 APOLOGIZE FOR THE WAIT : Complete your return-to-
the-call statement by saying, “thank you for holding, I’m sorry to
have kept you waiting”. This demonstrates your
acknowledgement that the caller may have been
inconvenienced by having to wait on hold.
 THANK THE CUSTOMER : “Thank you for holding” is an
easy way to keep your customer in a good mood when he/she
may otherwise have been annoyed at the very idea of being
kept on hold. Most customers know that hold time is necessary.
HOLD PROCEDURE

9.  Briefly summarize what has been accomplished on the call
 Let the customer know what happens next (and include a
timescale – so they can go about planning their busy lives)
 Ask the customer if there is anything else that they can be
helped with
 Finish with a courteous call-closing statement
CALL CLOSURE
KEY TO CLOSE
"It's been nice speaking with you, but I need to wrap up. Can we
set a time for our next call?“
"Always a pleasure to hear from you. Is there anything else you
need before I let you go?"

10. The behaviors that create Outstanding Customer Service fall into six
categories. We refer to them as the Six Pillars of Customer Service
SIX PILLARS OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

11. ALWAYS GREET YOUR CUSTOMER
TREAT YOUR CUSTOMER WITH RESPECT
TALK AND BUILD RAPPORT TO YOUR CUSTOMER
INTERACT WITH CUSTOMER IN A RELAXED WAY
TURN UP TO WORK WITH POSITIVE ATTITUDE
UNDERSTAND YOUR CUSTOMER NEEDS
DISCOVER THE IMPACT YOU HAVE AROUND CUSTOMER
EXCITE YOUR CUSTOMER ABOUT YOUR PRODUCTS & SERVICE
ATTITUDE

12. Interest is being 100% customer-focused.
All of our actions need to convey to a customer that they are
important to us.
Asking questions, Listening, Personalizing the relationship.
INTEREST

13. Our language skills play a key role in delivering Outstanding
Customer Service
Verbal communication refers to use of words
Using positive words & phrases, avoiding negative language
Communicating appropriately & accurately.
VERBAL LANGUAGE

14. PAY ATTENTION To find the needs of customer
LISTEN Listen what customer says
EXECUTE Plan a course of action
ASK Probing – questioning related to Query/Issue
SERVE Provide Service
EXCEED Offering additional assistance
PLEASE

15. Persuasion, Influence, Empathy, Energy are conveyed through the
five controllable attributes of voice.
Speed, Pitch and Loudness
Intonation [rise and fall of the voice while speaking]
Timbre [quality of a voice and intensity]
It's not what you say, but how you say it.
TONE OF VOICE

16.  For Customer service efforts to succeed, a long term strategic
plan is needed
 Your effort towards customer service leads to high business
reputation
 Set a Plan on routine and drive how to make happy customers
 Give the customer what they need, not what we think they want
 Partnering & working with team is very much important
DEVELOPING CUSTOMER
SERVICE

17. CONCEPTUALIZED BY
GOPIKRISHNAN VELAYUTHAM