10 Telephone Answering Tips for Small Business

"People who are funny and smart and return phone calls get much better press than people who are just funny and smart." ~ Howard Simons

The telephone is an indispensable utility for any business. But because it can't substitute face-to-face conversation, we need to exercise skill and caution to use it effectively. Whether you are dealing in apparel and garments or the food and beverages business, the following tips will help you better handle incoming phone calls.

1. Pickup the phone as quickly as possible – Ensure that it doesn't take any more than 3 rings before someone answers a call. In case there's no one available in your office, set up your answering machine to take the call by the fourth ring.

2. Greet all callers in a professional manner – You need to prepare a short and crisp greeting for all incoming calls. Record your greeting and prune it to perfection with practice. Ensure that your voice is clear, greeting is warm and enthusiastic, and the speech is neither too fast nor too slow.

3. Be ready to take down notes – Keep a notepad and pens ready when you attend to a call, you might need to write numbers, names, messages, etc.

4. Don’t eat, or try and do something else while you talk – It is unprofessional, and will give a bad impression to the caller. Munching on cookies or chewing gum while talking will also eat into the clarity of your voice.

5. Listen attentively – As you listen to the person at the other end, make notes, ask for clarification and request the caller to speak slowly (if needed) to facilitate your understanding. Be sure to ask for spellings of the people and company names.

6. Paraphrase to improve understanding – During a call if you're not sure whether you've understood a speaker or not, simply summarize what you think she's trying to say with something like “So, what I hear you saying is [summary],” and listen to the feedback.

7. Keep a copy of FAQ's handy – Many of your callers will want to know the same information. So keeping a copy of frequently sought information will save you and your staff time searching for it, each time you need to.

8. Putting a caller on hold – If you need to put a caller on hold, don't forget to ask for permission with a “May I put you on hold?” and listen to the answer. While the caller is on hold get back to her every 45 seconds to tell that you're still working on resolving her query, etc. When you return back, thank the caller for waiting. In case the caller can't wait, agree on a call back at a time convenient to the caller.

9. Return phone calls – When you are away from office, you need to frequently check the messages on your answering machine. Further, you also need to return phone calls promptly, not only because it's courteous, but you never know which call lands you a profitable assignment. While business time management can be tough at times, it's not impossible.

10. Let the callers keep the phone down first – It's courteous, and that sometimes a caller might want to say something important (e.g. a potential business opportunity) at the end of a call, so you risk missing that.