Receptionist & telephone handling

Trainer: Prof. Rajlaxmi Bhosale

Objective of the training
Module 1-Introduction and Course
Overview
Module 2-Exercise: Getting to
Know You
Module 3-The Role of the
Receptionist
Module 4-Customer Service
Principles

Select an adjective starting with the first letter of your name
and introduce the first person and then your introduction
Eg: Adventurous Adam

“… a person's name is to that person the sweetest
and most important sound in any language.”
- Dale Carnegie

Customer Service
A GAME CHANGER

 Although customer service might mean different things
for different people, you can see that there’s a lot of
common ground between these definitions, even
though we’ve all been using different words.
 Having a clear vision of what we want to achieve will
always make us more focused, united, and stronger as a
team.
Customer Service
A GAME CHANGER

Medical Receptionist Skills
Customer service skills Anger management skills
Interpersonal skills Computer skills
Communication skills Problem solving skills
Multitasking skills Dependability
Prioritizing Record keeping
Organizational skills Working under pressure
Time management skills Attention to detail

The American Association of
medical Assistants
Professionalism and patience:
First representative of a medical office encountered

medical Assistants
Strong customer service skills
 Work so closely with the public
 Warm, welcoming demeanor
 Excellent customer service
 Communication skills.
 Poise and compassion

medical Assistants
Attention to detail
 Highly organized
 detail oriented
 Ensure that daily administrative tasks don’t fall
through the cracks.

medical Assistants
Ability to manage stress
 Handle a high level of stress and activity
 Managing fast-paced office duties.

medical Assistants
Knowledge of the latest technology
 Prevalent in the physicians’ office
 Medical receptionists are computer savvy with
software in healthcare settings.

Essential Skills and Duties
 Front Desk Duties
 Answering Phones
 Greeting Patients
 Getting Them Checked In
 Scheduling/Rescheduling Appointments
 Assisting With Coding & Patient Insurance
Information
 Collecting Payments
 Variety of day-to-day office procedures.

 Administrative Duties
 Computer Applications
 Routine Correspondence
 Opening And Sorting Mail
 Billing Patient Statements
 Transmitting Information Electronically And Basic
Bookkeeping.

 Records Management
 Responsible For Maintaining
 Organizing
 Retrieving
 Updating and filing patient medical records.

 Billing and Insurance
 Hospital admissions and laboratory services

Module 5
Communication
Topics covered
· Why Communication Goes Wrong
· Getting Communications Across
· Personal Communication Style
Module 6
Questioning Techniques
· What Are Open Questions?
· What are Closed Questions?
· T.E.D. Technique for Open Questions
· Funnelling Technique
Module 7
Listening Skills
· Listening Skills Tips/Techniques

Module 8
Telephone Skills
Topics covered
Telephone Skills Self Diagnostic
Inappropriate Language/Phrases
Exercise
Effective Telephone Communicators
Poor Telephone Communicators
Module 9
The Factors of The Voice
Power
Pitch
Pronunciation
Pace
Inflection/Emphasis
Module 10
Professional Handling of Incoming
Calls
Six Steps to Handling an Incoming Call
Warm Transfer of Calls
Message Taking

Module 11
Telephone Work - Standards
Monitoring Checklist
Module 12
Assertiveness
Assertiveness, Aggressiveness and
Passivity
Assertiveness - The 3 Steps
Assertive Skill Practice
Positive Words and Phrases
Words and Phrases Exercise
Module 13
Dealing with Anger
Irate People - Tips and Tactics

Module 14
Your Personal Action Plan

Module 5
Communication
 Why Communication Goes Wrong
 Getting Communications Across
 Personal Communication Style

Sender
Channel
Receiver
Feedback
Channel
Encoding
Decoding
MessageNoise
Barrier
Process of
24

 1. Physical barriers
 2. Perceptual barriers
25

 3. Emotional barriers  4. Cultural barriers
26

 5. Language barriers  6. Gender barriers
27

Tools of effective
 Be Brief
 Manners
 Using “I”
 Be Positive
 Good listener
 Spice up your words
 Clarity
 Pronunciation
29

Types of Questions
Open
Ended
Close
Ended

Module 6
Questioning Techniques
The wise man doesn't give the right answers, he poses the
right questions"
CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS
TED:
+ Tell + Explain + Describe
 Tell me what happened
 Explain what the customer said when they phoned
 Explain your idea for improving the system
 Describe how you would solve the problem
 Describe the customer's attitude when they came in this
morning

How can we improve our listening &
facilitation skills?
PARAPHRASING
Restating what
another has said in
your own words
SUMMARIZING
Pulling together
the main points of
a speaker
QUESTIONING
Challenging
participants to tackle &
solve
problems

1. Pick up the phone in three rings . More
than three rings signals chaos in your
office or inattentiveness.
2. Greet the caller, e.g. “hello”, “good
morning”. Good manners shows you
respect the caller.
3. Give your name. This is a courtesy that
serves to personalize the customer
service experience as well as allowing the
customer to hold you accountable for
your level of service.
Answering the Telephone

4. Ask the customer if or how
you can help. Asking to help
tells the customer you are
there to serve his/her needs
and to solve his/her
problems. This also leaves
the customer with a positive
impression.
5. The greeting is key, it sets
the tone and style of the
whole interaction.
Answering the Telephone

Good morning, thanks for
calling the MGM Hospital. My
name is Rakhi. How may I help
you?/How may your transfer
your call?”

Telephone Etiquette
Tone of
Voice
86%
Words
14%
Speech

 Customer forms a mental PICTURE of you
P – PITCH
I – INFLECTION
C – COURTESY
T – TONE
U - UNDERSTANDING
R – RATE
E - ENUNCIATION
Telephone Etiquette

 Before you answer, be prepared:
—Have your computer switched on.
—Have pens, pencils and notepad ready.
 In answering the phone:
—Answer calls promptly by the second or third ring.
—Smile as you pick up the phone.
—Use your ‘telephone’ voice, controlling your volume and
speed.
—Project a tone that is enthusiastic, natural, attentive and
respectful.
—Greet the Customer, identify your Company and yourself.
Tips for Telephone Etiquette

 In the course of the conversation:
 Focus your attention on the Customer.
 Enunciate/articulate clearly. Speak distinctly.
 Use simple English – avoid Jargon and Acronyms.
 Use action specific words and directions.
 Use the Customer’s name during the conversation.
 Always speak calmly and choose your words naturally.

 Avoid forbidden phrases:
 “ I don’t know.”
 “I/we can’t do that.”
 “You’ll have to….”
 “Just a second.”
 “No.”

5 Phases of a Call
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5
Opening
the
Call
(Greeting &
Introduction)
Building
Rapport &
Identifying
Customer
Need
(Question)
Collecting/
Verifying
of
Information
(Paraphrase)
Provide
Customer
Solutions,
Alternatives
or
Information
Get
Customer
Buy-in;
Establish
Next Steps;
Close the call
(Summarize)

4-MINUTE TIME MANAGEMENT
TEST
How often is your day disrupted by people, or new
jobs, interrupting your routine?
 Very frequently, to the point where results can suffer
 More than you'd like but that's the way it is
 Quite regularly but you cope pretty well
 Not often and at an easily manageable level
 Never
https://www.activia.co.uk/time-management-test

Question 2
In general, how long do jobs take you
compared with what you expect?
 Less time, because you try to give yourself slack
 About the same because you are a good planner
 Longer because you get delayed or interrupted
 Longer because, once started, you often over-commit
 You don't think too much about it because things
generally work out OK

Question 3
How do you plan what you want to achieve
in a typical day?
 You don't really plan your days
 You create a prioritised To-Do list that forms the basis of
what you do
 You rarely start till you have thoroughly planned and
prepared for the day
 You only attempt the jobs you know you can do properly
 You start with a mental plan but can often get pulled away
from what you are doing

Question 4
Far too much work to do and you are
getting stressed, so what do you decide?
 You try to do as much as you can, even if some things don't
get the attention they need
 You grab a coffee with a friend to relieve the stress
 You take a short break to decide which jobs need to be
done, and which can wait
 You continue working as normal, and whatever isn't
finished today has to wait
 You spend as much time on each job as they need, even if
you overwork, so that everything gets done well

Question 5
You have been asked to attend an evening social event. You
don't really have the time to spare but it would be a nice
way to unwind, so what do you do?
 You agree to attend as you don't want to let anyone down, and
promise yourself you will catch up with work at a later time
 You turn down the invitation because you would rather stay on
top of your work
 You say you will let them know later, after you have decided
what you can manage
 Of course you will go! It wouldn't be like you to miss a social
event. If work suffers a bit, that's OK
 You set yourself a time to finish most of your tasks, and attend
the event for a short while

Question 6
How often do you delay in starting a job, or deciding
what to do?
 Hardly ever
 Now and again
 Quite often
 Regularly
 All the time

Question 7
It's early in the morning and you have
a busy day ahead.
How do you decide how to work?
 You don't have a set system: you tend to pick things to do
as the day progresses
 All your jobs need to be done, so you do them with equal
effort, one by one
 You prioritise the most important tasks and work through
them in order
 You prefer to start with the most interesting jobs to get you
going
 You try to multi-task because that's more productive

Question 8
You're in the middle of an important job
when someone stops and interrupts you.
What do you do?
 You don't want to fall behind so you continue your work but try
to listen to what the other person is saying at the same time
 You find out what they want and how urgent it is, and decide
whether to deal with it now or leave it for later
 You politely let them know that you're busy and they should
come back later
 You stop working and talk because social interaction helps us all
 You don't respond and hope they go away

Question 9
Someone asks you to do something but
you're already working on another job
which is quite urgent. What do you do?
 You don't mind working on more than one thing at a time, so
you try to do both jobs
 You try to squeeze both tasks into your daily schedule, even if it
puts you under pressure
 You ask them to come back later
 You explain that you can't do it at the moment as you're doing
something else, but will see what you can do once this is done
 You are likely to put off what you are doing so you can take on
the new job

Question 10
Which one is MOST like you when
replying to incoming emails?
 You don't use email
 You have set times in the day when you check your emails
and you always try to stick to them
 You like to save time by combining multiple tasks, so you
often check emails while on the phone or working on
something else
 You don't pay much attention to emails and aren't worried
if you have a backlog
 You try to answer each email as soon as it comes in

Question 11
What is your attitude to the quality of
your work?
 As long as you get it done, you're OK with it
 Quality can suffer on occasions because of time pressures
 You constantly juggle between good quality and the time
you have
 You try to do your best but this means you sometimes
over-run
 You always do the very best you can, and often take too
long

Question 12
Today, everyone seems to be wanting
too much from you.
How do you handle it?
 You switch off and just do what you can in the time
available
 You reach a point where you say you can't take on any more
 You re-assess what you can do in the time available
 You try do get everything done even though you probably
can't
 You work through, completing every job to your best
ability until time runs out

Question 13
You have not managed to do all you
had planned, even though some
of it is important. It is late afternoon,
so what do you do?
 Carry on until it is all finished, working late if needed
 Decide to resume in the evening, although this may not
happen
 Try to finish the most important tasks, but do not to
continue after that
 Stop work and continue the next day
 You pretty well always complete your work on time

Question 14
Which of these statements best
describes you?
 You generally enjoy staying busy and can juggle many tasks
and responsibilities at once
 Sometimes distractions keep you from working on
important tasks
 You have very high standards and will make sure you do
everything you can to the best of your ability
 You tend to work best under pressure
 You regularly prioritise jobs so that important things get
done first

Question 15
You have been given two weeks to complete
a job that you know will only take a few days.
How do you deal with it?
 You start working on it as soon as possible and continue
fine-tuning right until the deadline
 You assess the project's importance and work it into your
schedule
 You start working on it alongside all your other tasks and
aim to finish it by the deadline
 You start on it early because you know you are likely to get
side-tracked
 You have plenty of time to finish it, so you leave it for later

HEARD Roleplay
 Hear: Listen to the customer’s entire story.
 Empathize: Use phrases that convey that you
understand how the customer feels.
 Apologize: And do so effusively!
 Resolve: Fix the issue, and if you don’t know how ask
the customer, “How can I set this right?”
 Diagnose: Get to the bottom of the issue so you can
make sure it won’t happen again.

Receptionist & telephone handling

Receptionist & telephone handling

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Receptionist & telephone handling

Similar to Receptionist & telephone handling (20)

More from Rajlaxmi Bhosale

More from Rajlaxmi Bhosale (16)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)