Silke English
Have you ever used the phone and something went wrong? Well, we certainly have experienced those situations at least once.
This blog post is not written to point fingers but to raise awareness on situations that can go wrong when handling phone calls and how to successfully avoid them. I think it is safe to say that we do have some expert knowledge in this field. ;-)
Let’s dive into it:
This one happens frequently. You call a person and do not expect them to not pick up. We can relate to those voicemails — frankly, this has happened to almost everyone before — those voicemails do not look very professional in the eyes of the recipient.
Prepare yourself for the call. Take some notes before you dial in the number. Even when the person does pick up, it is helpful when you have an outline of what you want to ask while being on the phone. This also helps when leaving a voicemail, since the reason for the call can be stated and voilá you look like a pro!
The all-time most annoying thing that can happen: you just cannot write down quickly enough the number left on your voicemail. You listen to it over and over again, until you finally took down all the digits of the number you are supposed to call back. This is frustrating, especially when it is an important person, like a potential customer, that leaves you their number and you have to get back asap.
Use a phone system that transcribes your voicemails. Yodel can do this for you. You will get your voicemail not only sent to you as an audio file but also completely transcribed. This means, no more wasting time listening to that voicemail repeatedly to catch the call-back number.
The mute button is the best friend when it comes to discussing something with your coworker, while someone is on your phone line. It often is necessary to get some information about a customer or a project to give the caller the right answer. It can end up being pretty embarrassing when you forget to mute yourself.
Simply press mute! :-) There is not really a way to avoid these incidents. The only thing that can save you from even having to ask your coworker about the customer or a project, is that you use a phone system that tells you beforehand who is calling and what the call is about. You will be prepared and know if you can answer the question right away, or send the caller to voicemail and call back with having the answer to the question ready.
Ever lost a customer because your lines were busy? Shortly can quickly turn into minutes and seem like an eternity for the caller on hold. When the call drops while on hold or someone refers to the call in a wrong way — beep beep beep — they are out! Most likely, this customer will be frustrated and not give you a second chance.
In case you have this problem at your own business, that you are having too many people on hold at once or lines are often busy, you might want to look into a phone solution that can take care of your customers for you. Yodel for example can answer autonomously FAQs when connected to your company’s knowledge base.
Welcometomycompanysuchandsuchisspeakinghowcanihelpyou? Now read this super fast and you get the point I’m trying to make. When taking phone calls multiple times a day, the tendency of saying “your line” fast is high. However, the caller hears it for the first time and may not understand what you are actually saying.
How to avoid it
Again, look out for a phone solution that supports you. Some business phone solutions, including Yodel, let you set up a customized greeting or even record your own. You will always sound professional and give the caller a good first impression about your business and yourself.
