TAKING CALLS – TELEFONGESPRÄCHE ANNEHMEN

SUCCESSFUL AND EFFECTIVE PHONE CALLS – ERFOLGREICHE UND EFFEKTIVE TELEFONGESPRÄCHE

Start your phone call by being well-prepared. You should always have a pen and a note pad, ready
to take notes immediately. Take notes on what the caller is saying, so you can summarize well at
the end of your phone call and forward a professional message if necessary. Remember to smile.
The caller can’t help that you may be having a stressful day. Tel: 089 /41 200 660
www.lbt-languages.de

1. Taking a call – Gespräche annehmen 4. Company / Organization – Firma / Organisation

Make sure you know your company policy on how to answer the Find out what business (s)he comes from.
phone and be polite. • Which company do you represent?
• This is Helen Schmid from LbT-languages. Good morning. • Where are you calling from?
• LbT-languages, this is Helen Schmid. What can I do for you? • What’s the organization called you work with?

2. Getting names – Namen aufnehmen 5. Forwarding a call – Anruf weiterleiten

Get both the first and surname. If necessary, ask the caller to • Just one moment, I will put you through to Mr. Miller.
spell his or her name. Have a nice day!
• May/Can I have your name, please? • May I put you on hold while I try contacting Mr. Miller?
• Who is calling, please? (Wait for the response!)
• Could I take your full name, please? • Please hold the line. I will connect you.
• Could you please spell that for me? • I‘ll connect you with the person in charge.

3. Reason for the call – Grund des Anrufs 6. No reply – Keine Antwort
Find out why the person is calling. • I‘m sorry, this is Jane again. Ms. Schmid is not in today.
• May I ask what it’s about? Would you like me to take a message?
• May I ask the reason for your call? • I‘m afraid Ms. Schmid is in a meeting all day.
Would you like to call back tomorrow?
• What can we/I do for you?
• Would you like to wait or can he call you back?
• Could you tell me a little bit more about …
7. Ending a phone call – Ein Gespräch beenden
• Thank you for calling. Have a nice day.
“The only way to learn how to talk
• Thank you for calling. I will let Ms. Schmid know you called.
is • Good-bye Mr. Huber. Have a nice weekend.
by talking.”

Understanding – Verstehen Summarizing your call – Zusammenfassen des Gesprächs

What to say, if you don‘t understand the caller:
• I‘m sorry, could you speak a little bit more slowly?
• I‘m sorry, could you repeat that again?
• If I understood you correctly, you would like to ...
(then repeat what you think you understood – if it‘s correct
the caller will confirm. If not, the caller will repeat again.
• I‘m sorry, that was too fast for me.
At the end of a call summarize the information you have
gathered and repeat it. This allows you to be sure you got all
the right information
• Is that right, you will try to call Ms. Schmid again tomorrow
then?
• Just to be on the safe side, your email address was
info-at-lbt-minus-languages-dot-de (info@lbt-languages.de)?
• Did I understand you correctly, you …
MAKING CALLS – ANRUFEN
SUCCESSFUL AND EFFECTIVE PHONE CALLS – ERFOLGREICHE UND EFFEKTIVE TELEFONGESPRÄCHE
Think about what you want to say before you make your call.
Take some notes so you have a guideline.
If you are not sure about the vocabulary, look it up on www.leo.org before you make the call!
Tel: 089 /41 200 660
If the phone call is important you may want to stand up. You have more power and energy this way! www.lbt-languages.de

1. Making the call – Anrufen 5. Arranging appointments – Termine organisieren

Remember to introduce yourself. • Can we make an appointment?
• This is Helen Schmid from LbT-languages. Good morning. • I have noted down: we will meet on Friday, January the
• Hi! My name is Helen Schmid. I‘m calling from LbT-languages. eighteenth, at 10 am. I‘ll confirm this by e-mail, as well.
• Can we postpone the meeting with Ms. Schmid to another day?
2. Asking for somebody – Nach jemandem fragen
What you may say if you would like to talk to someone: 6. Problematic situations – Problematische Situationen
• May I speak to Mr. Smith? • Can you speak more slowly, please?
• I‘d like to speak to Mr. Smith. • Pardon, I didn‘t understand you at all.
• Could you put me through to Mr. Smith‘s assistant? • It is very urgent. I must speak to Ms. Schmid as soon as
possible. I only need 5 minutes of her time.
• Could you connect me with someone who can tell me ...
• Please, excuse my mistake.
• Is Mr. Smith in?
7. Ending a phone call – Gespräch beenden
3. Reason for the call – Grund des Anrufs
• Thank you for your help. Have a nice day.
• I‘m calling to inquire/enquire about ...
• Have a nice weekend.Good-bye!
• I‘d like to make an appointment for ...
• Best regards for Ms. Schmid then. I will try calling her again
• I‘m afraid we have to postpone ...
next week. Good-bye.
• I need more information on ...
8. Spelling – Buchstabieren
4. Leaving a message – Mitteilung hinterlassen
A [äi] as in Alfa N [än] as in November
What you may say if you want to leave a message:
B [bie] as in Bravo O [ou] as in Oskar
• Please tell Ms. Foerster I called.
C [ßie] as in Charly P [pie] as in Papa
• Would you ask Ms. Foerster to call/ring me back.
D [die] as in Delta Q [kju] as in Quebec
• Can I Ieave a message?
E [ii] as in Echo/E-mail R [ar] as in Romeo
• Could you please tell Ms. Foerster it‘s rather important and
F [äff] as in Foxtrott S [eß] as in Sierra
ask her to call me back soon? Thank you.
G [dschie] as in Golf T [tii] as in Tango
General things – Allgemeine Dinge H [äitsch] as in Hotel U [ju] as in Uniform
You never get a second chance to make a first impression I [ei] as in India V [wie] as in Victor
Der erste Eindruck – Die Macht der Stimme ist essenziell. J [dschäi] as in Juliette W [dabbl ju] as in Whisky
Bei einem Telefongespräch macht die Stimme ca. 86% eines
Gesprächs aus! (Der Ton macht die Musik) K [käi] as in Kilo X [ex] as in X-Ray
Wie wirken Sie am Telefon? Fragen Sie Ihre Kollegen, Freunde L [ell] as in Lima Y [wai] as in Yankee
und Bekannte. Haben Sie immer die gleiche Stimme am Telefon? M [äm] as in Mike Z [zie] as in Zulu (US English)
Sind Sie sich sicher, dass Sie immer professionell, klar und [zed] as in Zulu (British English)
freundlich klingen – auch an Tagen, an welchen Sie müde,
traurig oder genervt sind?