Phone Etiquette

Phone Etiquette

Robin L Hansel

IT/284

04/10/2015

Colleen Rush

Phone Etiquette

When taking support calls it is important that the agent be friendly and ready to assist the customer. There are eight steps to making a call successful.

1. Opening the call with a friendly greeting, branding the company, and asking how you can assist the customer.

2. Actively listening to the customer explain the issue they are calling about.

3. Ask the customer their name, and use their name throughout the call.

4. Repeat the issue back to the customer to assure the customer you were listening, and understand why they are calling. If you are not clear on the issue, ask probing questions to get a better understanding of the issue. Once you understand the issue, repeat it back to the customer to assure them that you now understand the issue.

5. Explain what you are going to do to resolve the issue. Even if it is just the first troubleshooting step, keeping the customer in the loop gains their trust and confidence that you can resolve their issue.

6. While waiting on systems to pull up the account, or for the customer to perform troubleshooting steps, build a rapport with the customer making small talk.

7. When the issue is resolved, give the customer a summary of what you have done for them and ask if there is anything else you can assist them with.

8. When closing the call, using the customer’s name, thank them for being a customer and brand the company when ending the call.

Most companies have IVR systems to answer their calls, so the customer can be routed to the correct department. The IVR can also verify the customer, get troubleshooting steps started, and perform tasks that the customer does not need a live agent to do for them. Like make a payment. The IVR can assist the support agent in running tests before the call is answered and the results on the screen for the agent to review to better understand the issue. This...