Professional Phone Skills: Best Practices, Tips and Techniques

by | Jul 1, 2021 | 2 comments


By Norm Rose, Excel Sales Consulting

Your commitment to great sales customer service, your contribution to having a positive attitude, and your demonstration of positive teamwork will increase your sales, further develop your business, and build long-lasting co-worker and customer relationships.

The world has changed. The new normal includes wearing a mask, keeping hand sanitizer well stocked, and wiping down surfaces often.

Fortunately, there are things that have not changed. staying professional on the phone is still a necessity for every business, so here is how to do that while still maintaining COVID-19 conditions.

1. Answer the phone in a friendly, upbeat manner. Do not rush. Remember that with a mask on, you will need to clearly articulate in order for the caller to hear and understand you.

2. When a caller is looking for someone who is unavailable, consistently offer to take a message or help him or her yourself.

3. Always use a formal greeting when answering the phone. Use this format: “Thank you for calling XYZ Company. My name is John. How can I help you?”

4. Offer at least one related add-on for every sale, to ensure the caller gets everything they need. The last thing a customer needs is to have to make a second trip to the store for another part or wait for a second delivery. When you take the time to offer associated products, everybody wins!

5. Show empathy with customers when dealing with complaints or problems. With the extra stress of Covid-19, everyone is a little more on edge these days. Recognize their frustration and work on the things that can be fixed.

6. If you need to place someone on hold, thank them for holding when you return to the call, before continuing the conversation.

Professional phone skills have not changed, but with these few tips you will enhance your customer’s experience even in the midst of the pandemic.

Norm Rose is the president of Excel Sales Consulting. He has been providing sales, customer service and leadership training to managers and employees around the world since 2001.

He is an expert in tailoring training to meet specific clients’ needs and providing his students with the right resources to become outstanding sales and customer service professionals.

2 Comments

  1. Diego

    hello do you have any research done on coated rotors if they can create brake noise or hinder the brake pad performance anyway

    Thanks
    Diego

    Reply
    • Andrew Ross

      In a scientific study on commercial vehicles “INVESTIGATION OF NOISE CHARACTERIZATION OF COATED ROTORS” there is some guidance provided.

      This is the abstract, offered here without further comment:
      ‘In this study, four excessive worn brake rotors of a light commercial vehicle are coated using different thickness, methods and powder coatings. Coated rotors (R1, R2, R3 and R4) compared with OEM brake rotor (R0) in terms of friction coefficient (μ) and braking noise. Three braking test procedures (bedding, hot judder I and II) are applied to five rotors using inertia brake dynamometer. Results in bedding testing procedures showed that R0 rotor provided higher brake noise and higher μ compared with coated rotors. In hot judder I testing procedures, R4 rotor provided higher μ and higher brake noise compared with the other coated rotors and R0. Also, in hot judder II testing procedures, R2 rotor provided higher μ compared with the other rotors, R0 provided higher brake noise compared with the other coated rotors. In addition, based on experimental data, noise levels are estimated by multiple regression method with dummy variables.’

      Reply

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