What is the structure of a good telephone call?
You know about how a letter or email should be set out but what about telephone calls?
They should also be structured, there are 8 steps to a good telephone call.
1. Good Greeting
Saying "good morning” or "good afternoon” is not only a nice way to greet the member, it also ensures that the first words he or she hears are positive."Good morning, my name is Jo, how may I help you?”
By giving your name you are making the call more personal; you should then offer your help.
2. Positive first response
The member will state his or her query and again the response needs to be positive. For example "Of course” or "I can help with that”.
Throughout the call show enthusiasm.
A tired voice which lacks enthusiasm is unappealing and reflects on the professionalism of both you, and your organisation.
The first 15 seconds of a call....
3. Question
We have already looked at questioning skills, use these to tease out as much information as possible to ensure you give the member the information or assistance he or she needs.
4. Listen
When the member has answered a question, repeat back key points or respond encouragingly.
This ensures details are correct and minimises any silences
.5. Confirm understanding
This is a key stage.
Summarise the points so that you understand what is needed before providing a solution.
This gives the member a positive feeling that you have listened and understood.
6. Provide a result
This could be information or a solution and should be done using positive language.
If you can’t offer a solution you can still be positive and helpful for example, "unfortunately that can’t be done but what I can suggest is.....”
If you need to put the member on hold while you check something out, ask him or her if it’s ok to do this and tell them how long they will be on hold for. When you get back, thank the member for holding.
7. Gain agreement
Ask closed questions to move towards the end of the call.
8. Close the call
How you close the call is the last thing the member will remember so ensure it is closed in a positive way!
Thank the member for calling.
A good tip is to let the member hang up first, it gives him or her a final change in case they have forgotten to add something.
