14. Customer service: Solving customer service problems. Phonecalls. Business matters Phone etiquette is essential to maintaining customer satisfaction and representing your brand professionally. Here's what small business owners should know about managing the phone lines.
Customer service over the phone matters greatly in customer satisfaction and your brand’s professionalism.
Customer service requires etiquette that is often unspoken but always expected by your customers.
Outsourcing management of your phone lines to a call center could free up internal resources and boost the quality of your customer service.
A reality of running a small business is being on the phone constantly. Whether you’re talking to clients or business partners, correct etiquette is the key to leaving a positive impression on everyone you interact with and letting them know you’re a professional.
“If you are the owner of a small business, make sure that everyone who talks to customers on the phone or answers the business line is trained,” said Gail Goodman, president of phone service training company PhoneTeacher.
Training, however, is never-ending. Business owners and the management team must ensure employees consistently apply company phone policies and best practices.
“Your challenge may be that you can’t really identify what it is that people should do,” Goodman said. “But when you hear something that’s wrong, you know it.”
What is phone etiquette, and why is it important?
Proper phone etiquette is your use of greetings, word choice, tone of voice, active listening, greetings and general manners on the phone. A potential client’s first impression of you is often over the phone, and how you communicate with them might decide whether you gain or lose them as a customer.
The benefits of maintaining great phone etiquette as you provide customer service include the following:
Making great, long-lasting first impressions: Callers judge your business by how you interact with them, handle their requests, or answer their questions.
