Title: Top 10 Telephone Skills
Author: Cathy
Article:
Great telephone skills are the building blocks of every business and it is easy
to see why. Many of the important experiences that your existing, new, and
potential customers are having are based upon the level of customer service they
are receiving from your employees while on the phone. Employees that can use
their telephone skills to effectively deliver excellent service will grow and
maintain a thriving business.
Top 10 Skills
There are many tips and techniques available on the market to help your
employees build great telephone skills; however, there are only 10 that can
truly deliver. The following Top 10 skills have been gathered from the
Telephone Training Program, an award winning resource that is entertaining and
simple for any practice to use.
1. Telephone Responsibility – It is important to identify and clarify whose
role it is to answer the phone to avoid confusion and chaos.
2. The Greeting – It is much more than a “hello”or “good morning.” Use your
greeting to warmly welcome existing and potential customers to your
business.
3. Telephone Etiquette – It’s not so much “what you say,” but “how you say
it,” that truly matters to your customers – continue to provide important
information but focus on the delivery.
4. Scheduling Appointments – Make sure your employees know how to schedule those
appointments – don’t take it for granted that they already know!
5. Placing Callers on Hold – Establish a customer - friendly manner to place
callers on hold without offending the customer.
6. Transferring Calls – Don’t leave the caller hanging: let him or her know when
and why you are transferring their call to another employee.
7. Leaving and Taking Messages – Identify what an appropriate message is to
leave for a customer, as well as, how to gather all the necessary information
when taking a message for other employees.
8. Handling the Unhappy Caller – It is important that employees keep their own
cool when talking with anunhappy caller and work towards a mutually
acceptable answer to the caller’s concern.
9. Handling Tough Questions – Recognize how much information is okay to
provide and when it is time to seek the assistance of a more seasoned employee.
10.Personal Calls – There really is no time that is acceptable for employees
to make and receive personal calls. This behavior communicates to the
customer that their time is more valuable than the customer’s – a big
put-off!
You can provide your employees with these necessary phone skills in your
employee manual and through hands-on instruction. Consider adding a web-based
front office and/or telephone training program to supplement your own training.
This will ensure that you cover all bases and give your employees the best
foundation possible.
In Short…
Do not ignore the significance of an employee that possesses great telephone
training. Review the Top 10 skills with your employees on a regular basis and
train a new employee as a part of their employee orientation. Your business
will continue to thrive with every ring of the telephone.
About the author:
Cathy Warschaw, Director of the Warschaw Learning Institute provides an online
multicultural dental front office course, HIPAA, telephone training and eBooks
on team building, managerial, customer service, and marketing. Video at
Service/Business/1/Top 10 Telephone Skills
Some things for you to think about and how it would relate to your own business. Telephone skills are always needed and you
should practice your selling skills whenever possible. Have a Family member listen to you and ask questions
like a potential customer would. Practice, the more comfortable on the phone you are, the better you will do.
===================================================
Title: A Guide For Customer Service Training Tools
Author: Bob
Article:
Let’s face it, good customer service can make or break a company. Even if the
product is top-notch, if the sales representatives don’t have great customer
service skills, it doesn’t matter. Customer service should be a number one
priority to any business.
But how do you train sales staff to be good at customer service? Customer
service involves many things. It requires a great attitude, a knowledge of the
business, and a real desire to help the customer get what they want, and provide
it in a manner that is positive so that they come back and refer their friends
and family to the business, as well.
There are a wide variety of customer service training tools available. The key
is to find out which type of training best fits your needs. One type of training
tool that is good for many kinds of businesses is using video training. Video
training is very cost effective. Video training involves a one time cost for the
training videos and other materials. Video training is available in a variety of
medias, including VHS, DVD and CD-ROM. This makes it user friendly and will work
with whatever system you currently have.
Video training can be done with a group or sent home with an employee for some
self-study at home. The videos give concrete learning skills and display
scenarios to help employees identify what type of customer service skills are
needed in any situation. These types of training videos often include simple
tips for improving customer service, activities for team building and
confidence, and role-playing ideas so that employees can practice the skills
they just viewed. It can also provide motivational tips to keep employees
enthusiastic about customer service.
Another advantage of video training is that you can train employees now, and
other employees in the future. If you feel like your employees need a refresher
course on some aspect of good customer service, you can show it immediately,
without waiting to book a trainer. These are the kind of tools that work
anytime, anywhere, which saves time and money for the business owner.
Finding a company that sells these kinds of customer service training tools is
as easy as connecting to the Internet. There are a ton of companies that offer
video training. Many will allow you to view the videos before purchase so that
you can decide which format would be best suited for your business and
employees. The videos are reasonably priced to fit within any budget, and often
you can purchase just one or two videos or an entire training course. It’s up to
you. Now, teaching your employees how to provide excellent customer service has
just gotten a lot easier.
About the author:
Bob Hett offers great tips and advice regarding all aspects of
training tools and videos. Get the information you are seeking now by visiting
Service/Business/1/A Guide For Customer Service Training Tools
Customer service is one of the most important aspects to making a sale. Always be courteous to your customers and remember they keep you in business.