20 Professional Tips for Telephoning

A phone call is not a disturbance, a phone call is a chance to push a project forward, to reach a goal, to solve a problem, to arrive at an agreement or just to connect to someone in a fast, safe and friendly way. In any case you will produce an impression by the way you act on the phone. Strive to make it a good impression!

• Be friendly! A smiling, open, interested-sounding voice on the phone is really pleasant.
• Do not sound as if you´re in a hurry, do not interrupt the other person. Before difficult phone calls, allow yourself a moment of calmness and contemplation.
• Prepare difficult phone calls: What do you want to achieve? What do you want to bring across? What objections might come up? To what extent are you ready to negotiate? What do you want the other person to do?
• Get to the point-quickly!
• When somebody calls you, you can always help him/her. Hence, your extension can never be 'the wrong one'.
• Identify exactly what the other person wants. If you connect him/her to someone else: Tell him/her your colleague´s name, his extension “just to make sure”, say goodbye and then put him/her through.
• Never put down the receiver before you have reached your colleague. Imagine talking to a human being and then suddenly being left with the answering machine. This is sure to get on people´s nerves.
• Avoid all negative words: unfortunately, disappoint, sorry, the person who deals with ..., responsible, the wrong extension, big problem, not familiar with, first I have to, how did you get my number, that´s not the way to ..., now listen ... Do not think about problems, but about their solution. Help your caller!
• Offer alternatives: We can call you back tonight or tomorrow morning, what would be more convenient for you?
• Take down the number and say you will call back. Ask your contact person at what time you can reach him/her at what number: normal extension, cellphone, ...
• Before you leave the room, program your phone so that incoming calls will be automatically transferred to a colleague. There´s nothing more unpleasant than a ringing phone without a chance to leave a message. It´s time-consuming and nerve-wrecking. Inform your colleagues that your calls will be transferred, tell them when you will be back.
• When you pick up the receiver, say your company´s name, your first and last name, good morning/good afternoon - clearly.
• When you spell your name, use an image, a mnemonic - not the spelling alphabet.
• When it comes to important phone calls, take notes. But do not clatter away on your computer keyboard - it would make the caller feel you´re not really with him/her.
• Use phone calls to update and enhance your database - for example by asking for the cellphone number or the email address.
• Don´t let yourself be provoked, no matter how impertinent the person on the other side might be. Friendliness calms down even the angriest man, and nobody can reproach you for bad behaviour.
• The one who asks leads the way. Do not ask questions like a policeman, nor in a staccato style; let the other person speak.
• Keep your voice down a bit, speak a little more slowly and low-pitched - rather than louder, faster and high-pitched. That conveys level-headedness, calmness, seriousness, and creates confidence. Concentrate when you are telephoning.
• The rules for a face-to-face conversation also apply on the phone: no revolver rhetoric, no cutting people short, no impertinence, no insults, nothing you might feel sorry about later.