Phone Etiquette Key Terms

Learn key ways to make good impressions with your customers

By Heidi Crossman

To a customer who deals with your company via the telephone, your business is only as good as the employee on the other end of the phone. Proper phone etiquette is a priority for attracting and keeping customers. Bad attitudes and improper wording work against the company, not for it. The first step in impressing customers with the quality of your business is to become familiar with some key terms.

Telephone skills

Mastering telephone skills is vital to presenting good telephone etiquette. Some of these skills are detailed below; others include the handling of scheduling, transferring, conflict resolution and message-taking.
Try: To learn about telephone skills and setting priorities, visit Streetdirectory.com.

Greeting

The call's greeting should establish the tone of the phone call and identify the receiver of the phone call. Often, the greeting consists of a pleasantry and the person or company's name.
Try: Learn the importance of a proper telephone greeting and what an appropriate greeting is at Essortment.

Voice tone

The voice tone and the attitude of the employee answering the phone establish the flow of the phone call.
Try: Phone Pro elaborates on voice tone and its importance during a business call.

Impression

We all hear the expression that it's important to make a good first impression. This is especially important in business. An impression is the idea someone forms of a person or situation. When business success is on the line, employees should strive to make good, not bad, impressions when dealing with customers.
Try: Why is presenting a favorable first impression so important? First Impression Management helps create a better understanding of first impressions.

On hold

Placing callers on hold involves taking up their time by having them wait for a response of some kind. As a common practice with business phone calls, holding is expected but should still be handled in a timely way and with the utmost courtesy.
Try: Explore the most appropriate way to handle the situation at Salary.com.

End a call

Ending the phone conversation appropriately is as important as any other aspect of the call. A pleasant ending by an employee can leave customers looking forward to their future dealings with the company.
Try: End a call tactfully after consulting The Sideroad for suggestions.