The Secret to A Great Phone Call

There are many things we consider as basic necessity nowadays. Other than the usual food, clothing, and shelter, we now have to include communication devices. It is an obvious truth that a lot of people cannot live without using any form of communication tool, whether it's via the internet or telephone systems. Whether in professional life or in personal, like marriage, good communications is an important factor for success.

The most common thing we use is the phone. Now that would mean either mobile or landline phones. Every call should be a great one for good information transfer. Now of course I am referring to the usual conversation and not the delivery of any bad news. But still, whatever the purposed of the call is, there are some things which must be remembered.

Here are some tips to make a common phone call a nice one:

1. Learn to Listen

Always remember to give the other person a chance to talk. Communications is a two-way process -- there is a listener and there is a speaker. But this is a role played by both sides. The two (or more) parties on the phone should be able to take turns receiving and giving information.

2. Do Not Interrupt

As tempting as the topic may be, do not interrupt a speaker when this person is giving a statement. He may lose track of his topic, get irritated or simply just forget his train of thought. It is very impolite to interrupt someone in any thing this person is doing. Let your communications partner finish his sentence and then give your response.

3. Talk with a Moderate Speed

Sometimes we get so caught in a topic that we forget that we may end up talking too fast to be intelligible. We usually do this when we are very knowledgeable of the topic, excited, or emotional. When we talk too fast we usually waste more time. Just imagine the number of repetitions you would need to do just because your audience did not understand your statements. That's just bad and sad.

4. Control Your Pitch and Volume

Getting all too caught up in the energy level of a call sometimes pushes you to increase your volume and even the pitch of your voice. Sometimes, we forget that we are talking directly to a mouthpiece or the microphone of a headset. That's equivalent to talking directly to the ear of your audience. If you are too loud or speaking with a very high pitch, your partner may just resort to pulling the earpiece away to avoid ear damage. You tend to end up with an unsuccessful conversation because of that. Consider the intensity of your voice. This may irritate your audience and if it does, you lose them.

These tips will be very helpful for people usually engaged in calls. Not just those who are in the profession of talking, but those who just love speaking with people in any communications device that involves verbal exchange. Never be afraid though to fail. It helps to learn from mistakes.

And remember to just be happy in every service you could provide. Regardless of the challenges you encounter in a call, it must always be a good one so that the person on the other line will also end up happy with this phone call.

TIPS FOR GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE PROVISION

I have been in the Business Process Outsourcing industry for some time now and with all these years 0f experience, I have seen some really foolproof ways for customer service representatives to make their conversations enjoyable for the person on the other end. This is really an important part of their service provision since it is these CSR personnel who usually act as the front liners of a company. When a rep speaks to the customer, this person IS the company and not just a third-party service provider. Thus, it is best that every customer's needs are met and the call becomes the answer to a customer's prayer for solutions or assistance.

So here are some tips to make telephone conversations more productive.

1. Always Smile
It is a known fact that seventy percent (70%) of the communication process is dependent on body movements and gestures including facial expression. So over the phone, you lose this and depend only on the thirty percent (30%) left. Smiling produces a more relaxing tone and a more engaging aura on the communication process. Smiling is the only action that can send a positive influence across the line. Customers feel that you are smiling because this action actually is reflected on a person's intonation and character. People will actually feel that you are eager and enthusiastic about extending a helping hand when they can feel that you are smiling. Just make sure to maintain this smile throughout the whole call.

2. Be Polite

A lot of the calls we receive in a day as CSRs are complaints. People call to state an issue, file a complaint, or some just whine. But regardless of the reason behind all of these, a CSR must maintain composure and extend proper telephone courtesy at all times. Being polite in the midst of a nagging customer is difficult. Sometimes all you want to do is answer back and throw the complaint back at them. But this is not the purpose of customer service. Always make sure that you treat the customer the way you would want to be treated -- with respect. Always make sure that you keep a good conversational tone, allow the customer to air his grievances, and then provide the best solutions possible.

3. Let the Customer Talk

It is the CSR's responsibility to maintain a low Handling Time for calls that come in. This is to make sure that more people are given assistance each day. Of course, we also do not want waiting calls to build up in number for this shall sure be another issue for complaint. But here's one good practice to make sure that a customer leaves the call satisfied. Make them spill out what they want to say BUT with call control still in your hands.
A customer would usually say their complaint to their hearts' content because that's the reason for their call -- they want the company to know that there's something wrong and it's not pleasing them. Allow them to say what they want to say but cautiously steer the conversation to a main point. This helps the customer drive on to the main point. But do not disrupt them and bring their complaint to a halt just because you already understood their issues. Allow them to know that you are getting their point and understand their circumstance and state that you have a solution that they may take for that matter.
If the call is a repetitive complaint though then it's a different issue, all you can actually do is explain the steps being taken by the company and that these steps will take them nearer to the solution they are asking for. This will help ease their frustration because they know that the company is doing something regarding their complaint.

4. Never Make Promises

It is a common mistake to say to the customer, "Yes, sir, I promise this will all be over quickly". This is adding insult to an already grave injury. There is really no specific guarantee that the solution a customer gets is what the customer wants. You might end up producing more frustration than the start. Promises are really not meant to be broken. So if you cannot guarantee a satisfaction, do not make a promise.

These four tips will help you as a customer service agent in providing more satisfying call experiences to your customers. Remember that your relationship with the customer can make or break their relationship with the company you represent.

This is all for now. I will be back with more tips next time.

** The blogger, Jonathan Daoana, is a Business Process Outsourcing consultant and has had extensive experiences in the aspect of sales training, customer service training, accent training and leadership training. Currently he holds position as a staffing specialist while working also as an offshore service operations manager in the Philippines.

My Best View About Love

WHAT IS LOVE...? My favorite book about love says much about it in 1st Corinthians Chapter 13. Love is..

• (verse 4)

• is longsuffering (i.e. tolerant, patient)
• is kind
• is free of jealousy, envy and pride

• (verse 5)

• does not display unseemly behavior
• is unselfish
• is not touchy, fretful or resentful
• takes no account of the evil done to it [outwardly ignores a suffered wrong]

• (verse 6)

• hates evil
• is associated with honesty

• (verse 7)

• protects
• trusts [implying faith in God and trusting in righteousness]
• hopes
• perseveres

• (verse 8)

• triumphs

• (verse 13)

• is greater than either faith or hope