Many people who consider themselves to be great communicators struggle when speaking on the phone. And even though emailing and instant messaging services have become increasingly popular in recent years, there is still a place for the traditional phone call in business.
If you are just starting out your business, you should think about how to buy 0800 numbers to get started off, as well as how to improve your overall phone manner. So, let’s look at a few ways in which you can do this.
Get Your Answering Routine Right
To start off with, you should be aiming to answer the phone in as few rings as possible. We live in a very impatient world in which people are likely to move on if they don’t receive the quick service they are looking for. When you answer, you should identify your company and who you are so people know that they have called the right place. Afterwards, you can then get into the heart of the matter in terms of what they are looking for.
Pay Attention to Your Voice
As you don’t have any visual communication methods to convey to people, you need to do all this with your voice. Essentially, you want to seem like you are smiling inwardly, which can be a difficult skill to master to begin with. You can establish familiarity by getting the caller’s name at the earliest opportunity and slipping it into conversation when you can. Always aim to convey friendliness and openness where you can.
Gather as Much Information as Possible
You want to make sure that the call is efficient, both for the client’s patience and saving yourself time which could be spent on other things as well. Try asking a series of short and direct questions to establish who the person is, where they are calling from and the purpose of their call. Some people like to talk on the phone more than others, and there is an art form of knowing when to cut people off and knowing when to let them continue talking.
Practice Handling Difficult Calls
How you deal with difficult clients can really make or break your business. You want to address their issues directly, but without undermining them. So, you should aim to use active listening skills, giving them affirmative noises that you are listening without interrupting them. Try to lower your voice and speak in an even tone as much as possible, even if the callers starts to raise their voice. It can be a challenge not to let your emotions get the best of you, but this is what you should be aiming to achieve.
Ultimately, talking on the phone to clients is a skill that you can develop over time. But if it is something that you have never done that often before and you are starting out on your own, you should use this advice as a starting point and continue practising until you establish a rhythm that works for you.
