How to Professionally Answer Phone Calls: 5 Call Answering Tips that will Impress Your Customers

With all of the technology available to us today, the telephone has remained a vital tool for your business. How many times in a day are you answering calls from customers, potential leads, employees etc.? Even with email and texting in the mix, one major tool that can help you solidify your reputation is the telephone.

Here are a few statistics that may surprise you!

• Customers prefer to interact with a business through phone calls, emails, and in-person (in that order!).
• 71% of customers will leave a business if they experience a poor customer service interaction.
• 38% of customers will leave a business if an issue or concern is not resolved on the first call.

As you can see, call answering and customer service etiquette plays a key role in your business. Having sub par call answering skills, or having no call answering plan in place, can present a significant risk to your business, your reputation and your brand.

Keeping customers happy can be a challenge, however, the challenge should never be with respect to phone etiquette or call answering skills. In fact, call answering is an easy fix, one we can help with (it’s what we do!).

Here are 5 Call Answering Tips that will Impress Your Customers

Answer the Phone Before the 3rd Ring

Make it a priority to answer every phone call before the third ring. A recent study states that 39% of customers have less patience today than they did prior to 2022, with 14% saying that their patience for hold times has dropped to zero. (source: www.customerthink.com)

Have a Call Script in Place

Have a standardized greeting for every call that comes into your business, regardless of who is answering the phone. Customers love consistency when interacting with a business. Do you have a call script or greeting script that every employee is required to use when answering the phone? Consistency builds trust, and so does professional call answering!

Smile (yes smile!) When You Answer the Phone

A smile can help your tone of voice! Do you ever get on the phone with someone and you just know they are having a bad day? Did you know smiling when answering the phone can increase endorphins? Smiling helps your tone of voice and demeanor when talking with someone on the phone. In fact, a study at the University of York demonstrated that people can “hear” or detect your smile over the phone, they do not need to see you smile to know you are smiling, they can in fact, detect it over the phone. (source: york.ac.uk)

Speak Clearly & Use Everyday Terminology

Avoid jargon when speaking to a customer or client on the phone, it can lead to confusion. Using plain language rather than industry lingo can go a long way in avoiding misunderstandings. Keep it simple and avoid jargon and acronyms during a phone call.

Say Your Customer’s Name!

Use the caller’s name during the conversation. While you may not want to call a customer by their name repeatedly, studies show that people like to hear their name. Additionally, when you call customers by their name, customers feel valued and heard. They pay more attention to the conversation and it can help increases their loyalty to your business (source: customerservicemanager.com)

Those are just a few of our top tips for call answering and for ensuring your business sounds professional on every phone call! Looking for more information? Get in touch today! We can help you with top tier call answering service at affordable prices.