There are many ways to answer a phone call. We use different greetings depending on who we are
talking to. How we answer the phone when talking to friends and family might not be appropriate in a
work or professional setting. For example, you might answer a phone call from a friend by saying
something similar to “Hey, what’s up?” That isn’t going to be the same greeting you want to use when
answering a phone call for your place of work. There are four major parts to a greeting when answering a
call for a professional business that can generate the biggest success.
When answering a call for your place of work, you should always use the company’s specific
personalized greeting. The first thing you should say to the caller is a beginning phrase. For example,
saying “Thank you for calling…” or “Good morning/ afternoon…” are both great ways to start a
conversation to let the caller know you are happy that they called. Start your greeting with a chipper tone
of voice and continue that throughout your entire phone call. The caller wants to feel like they are
speaking to a great representative that is happy to be answering their call. There are times when calling a
business where the person answering the phone sounds like they aren’t happy to be answering your call.
This might make the caller not want to use the business for their services. Always act like you are happy
to be answering the phone, even if you aren’t feeling that way at the moment.
The second thing you will want to inform the caller of is the name of the business they are
calling. You might think that the caller should already know who’s phone number they dialed, but a lot of
times the caller can accidentally put in a wrong digit or think they have the right number when they don’t.
Letting them know who they called can save a lot of time for you and the caller. If they accidentally called
the wrong number and they don’t know that because you didn’t tell them who they called, you will be
trying to figure out what they need when they actually can’t be helped by you anyway.
The third part of your greeting will be letting the caller know your first name. Telling the caller
your name makes the call more personal. Callers appreciate knowing who they are speaking with as this
gives them a name of who they can ask for when they call back. Putting a name to the voice is very
important for callers when they are trying to make a relationship with the company and the people
working there. There are often times that callers will request to speak with a specific person because they
know that they will be taken care of. You should strive to be the person with the happy voice that gets
asked for by callers.
Finally, the fourth portion of the greeting will be the conclusion. End the greeting with a question
such as “How can I help you today?” or “How may I help you?” Asking them a question similar to these
lets them know you are happy to help them. Callers want to feel like they aren’t a burden when calling a
business. Now you have finished your greeting and the caller is ready to tell you what they need. Using
these four parts of your greeting with a cheery tone to your voice will boost success for the fantastic
business you work for and score you major brownie points with not only the callers, but with your boss too!
Recent Comments