What You Say is Important
At Central Communications, we are a phone kind of company. There are people who dislike talking on the phone. That is usually because they can’t see the callers face and gauge their reactions. We understand that. But we also know for certain that if you spend as much time on the phones as we do, you get to understand little nuances that most non-phone people might not pick up on.
We don’t like giving away the trade secrets which make us so special, but just for today, we will share a few with you. First, no matter how much fun we are having at work, we try to always answer your phone line in a calm and friendly manner. Answering the phone with too much enthusiasm can be off putting to some callers. Because of our experience, we can sense if a customer is uncomfortable, even if we can’t see the person’s face. There will be intake of breath, or a long pause, if you answer the phone with too much gusto.
If we are following a customer’s standard script and the caller begins to sound impatient, we know that it might be time to stop asking questions, and get to the point. Some people get really suspicious or anxious when they are trying to reach you and we are asking what they consider, “too many questions”.
There are words that can comfort a caller in distress. If they are anxious or angry, we get softer, and only offer support, not defensiveness. It is important that your customer feels they are being respected, and heard. When we say we will follow up, we mean it. Even if the answer to the question is not the one they want to hear. Leaving people hanging is just going to create more anxiety.
Not all of the people who answer phones, even within your own company, have been trained to do these things. In fact, most of them have little or no training on how to properly answer customer phone calls.
Central Communications provides it’s operators with training, and we continue to support the efforts to make Central Communications the award winning answering service that it is.
Give us a call.
Pearl Anwers