Telephone etiquette or basic rules of conduct for a telephone conversation: a list, phrases. How to properly introduce yourself on the phone when making an outgoing call in a company, office, or home call? How to properly answer phone calls in the office and at home?

How to properly speak on the phone during business communication.

• Business communication cannot be imagined without telephone conversations. Partners, officials, clients find out most of the questions using the phone. The situation is the same with office contacts.
• How to use the possibilities of telephone communication efficiently and competently, so as not to waste precious time and increase business contacts? Knowledge of telephone etiquette will help to create an image of a person who knows the specifics of his work in a business environment.

Telephone etiquette or basic rules of conduct for a telephone conversation: a list

If you, by nature, call on behalf of a company or organization that receive incoming calls or forward customer calls to others, then you definitely need to familiarize yourself with the basic rules of telephone etiquette. This will help you establish yourself in a professional environment as a competent specialist, as well as among clients.

The rules of telephone etiquette dictate their terms to modern companies that systematically take care of their reputation. Knowledge of telephone etiquette is one of them.

Which of the company's employees should know by heart and apply the rules of telephone etiquette in practice:

• the one who receives incoming calls
• the one who, by the nature of the activity, calls on behalf of the organization
• who receives customer calls forwarded to him

What does it mean to adhere to the rules of telephone etiquette:

• When talking on the phone, it is important to keep the intonation of your own voice even and not give vent to emotions. Since during a telephone conversation one of three channels is activated that allow people to communicate (they include "sign language", intonation and words), the interlocutor, having lost one of the channels, begins to perceive the meaning of the message in a somewhat abbreviated form.
• The meaning of what was said over the phone is conveyed as follows: the absence of "sign language" leads to the fact that the remaining two channels (intonation and words) account for 100% of the meaning of what was said, more precisely, 86% are allocated for intonation, and only 14% for words.
• The emotional coloring of the message is conveyed by the voice of the interlocutor. The interlocutor has his own impression of who called him. Therefore, by communicating any information to the interlocutor by phone, you can not only influence its initial perception, but also be able to create a mood for the interlocutor.

• A smile during a telephone conversation is also necessary. Do not think that, deprived of the opportunity to see you, the interlocutor will be able to catch the trusting notes you need and a positive attitude in the absence of a smile. Try to convey your enthusiasm through intonation.
• When talking on the phone, do not lie back on a chair, do not stretch your legs on the table. In a semi-recumbent or semi-seated position, the angle of the diaphragm shifts, which changes the timbre of the voice. At the other end of the wire, they will surely guess that at this moment you are lying. The only thing that you can convey to a client or employee of another organization with the help of a phone call in this way is your disinterest and complete indifference.
• Remember to greet the caller when answering a phone call. However, for different times of the day, use the appropriate greeting: “Good morning! Good day! Good evening!".
• By greeting the person who dialed your organization's phone number, you show how important this call is to you and that the conversation brings you joy, no matter what information you hear. But even if your personal attitude towards the person from whom you need to find out any information by phone has a negative connotation, then the other end of the line should not guess about it.

There is a category of people who, picking up the phone, invariably and without any intonation say “Hello!”, “Yes!”, “Listening!”, “Company (name)!”, “At the device!”. You should not be like such "telephone dinosaurs", because the caller after such a "greeting" is unlikely to express a desire to continue the conversation. Most likely, he will also dryly communicate the necessary information and end the conversation.

The phone conversation after the greeting includes the name of the organization. When receiving external calls, remember to fully identify the firm or institution you work for.

There are two options for official greetings, which are carried out over the telephone:

Option 1: with a minimal approach.

The person receiving the call greets the caller and calls the organization. An example of such a greeting: “Good evening! The editorial office of the Raketka magazine.

Option 2: with the maximum approach.

This option implies a greeting, the name of the organization, the name of the person who answers the call. An example of such a greeting: “Good morning! The editorial board of the Raketa magazine, Nadezhda Viktorovna is listening! "

Whichever option you like best, use this one. Both options help create the impression of the person answering the phone like a professional. The caller will have the same opinion regarding the organization.

Answer an incoming call after the 2nd or 3rd ring

• One of the main laws of business telephone communication is that you need to answer an incoming call after the 2nd or 3rd ring. "Telephone" personnel, whose duties include answering telephone calls (telephone operators, company secretaries, employees of "hot lines") learn this rule as the most important thing.
• Why is it not recommended to pick up the phone after the first call? Everything is explained very simply: the caller may think that the employee of the organization was bored before, not knowing what to do, while waiting for the next call. In the few seconds that you have before the second or third call, you will be distracted from the business that you were busy with before and will fully focus on the incoming call.
• It is not recommended to answer incoming calls after the 4th or even 5th call for the simple reason that the caller, waiting for an answer on the phone, may lose patience. In this short period of time, the caller will have time to form a "definite" opinion regarding the company's interest in customers and the ability to quickly respond to their needs and problems.

Who should be the first to introduce themselves on the phone?

• Having dialed the phone number you need, do not repeat the mistakes of those who start the conversation with the phrase: "You are worried about (name of the organization)" or "You are worried about the issue." This is how insecure people or those who want to appear polite start a telephone conversation. Why are these phrases unsuccessful? If you “disturb (disturb)” the person on the other end of the line, then from the very first minutes of the conversation, a negative attitude towards the caller and the call itself is formed.
• This will automatically cause a feeling of anxiety, and thus you yourself seem to be giving a reason to treat your call as unwanted, which only distracts you from important matters.
• Do not create uncomfortable moments for yourself and the interlocutor with phrases that sound like "I have to disturb you and disturb your comfort, because I need to find out some questions."

What phrase to start a conversation with? Say hello and introduce yourself. For example, it may sound like this: “Good afternoon! Gennady Pavlovich is calling you from the printing house. "

Video: Business telephone etiquette

How to properly introduce yourself on the phone when making an outgoing call in a company, office, or home call?

• When making an outgoing call, be sure to ask if your interlocutor can talk to you. After all, he can have his own to-do list or schedule appointments, meetings. Most likely, before picking up the phone, he was busy with something and you took him away from this activity. Consider this when making a call to your mobile phone.
• After you've introduced yourself, don't rush to jump straight to the question that prompted you to call him. Find out if the other person has time to listen to you, and only if the answer is yes, get down to business. This will show that you value his time and position yourself in the eyes of the interlocutor as a professional. This cannot but inspire respect for you and the organization that you represent.

Option 1: First of all, introduce yourself. Then ask the other person if they have time to listen to you, while voicing the purpose of the call.

Option 2: Introduce yourself, name the purpose of the call, and only then ask if the interlocutor will be able to give you time.

How to greet a client on the phone during a business conversation?

If you are not the initiator of the conversation:

• "Art Center Leonardo, good evening, administrator Olga, I'm listening to you."
• If you think this phrase is too long, then you can limit yourself to an abbreviated greeting: "Art Center Leonardo, good evening!"
• Very often you can hear such a greeting: "Hello!" However, it is permissible to say hello at a personal meeting, and in business communication, such free phrases are unacceptable.

If you initiate the call:

Introduce yourself, name your organization or company name, and ask if your interlocutor has time to

Video: Introduce ourselves correctly to the client by phone

How to use the phone correctly: phrases of telephone etiquette

The following phrases will be the key to correct business communication on the phone:

• If it's not hard for you
• Thank you for your time
• Do you have time to wait for an answer? Do I need to contact the purchasing department?
• I will clarify this information and call you back.
• Thank you for taking the time in your schedule for this conversation.
• Thank you for taking the time to talk to us, despite being busy.

The following questions will help you clarify the information:

• Can you hear me well?
• Sorry, I didn't hear. Please repeat.

Phrases of telephone etiquette

How to end a business call correctly?

End the conversation with a standard question requiring an unambiguous answer:

• So, on this issue we agreed?
• May I take it that we have reached an agreement on this issue?
• As I understand you (in this matter), we can count on your support?

How to properly answer phone calls in the office and at home?

Video: How do I answer a phone call?