CALL HANDLING

SKILLS
 While dealing with irate
customers, do not take anything
personally.
 Active Listening
 Understanding customer needs
 Effective communication methods
 Good problem solving skills
Action Points

 Listen, grasp and respond

immediately

 Be patient! Do what you say and

help to come to a common ground

 Empathize (Never Sympathize)

Action Points
 Be cheerful, pleasant and full of
enthusiasm.

 Use the right phrases, like “What can

I do for you today?”, “ How may I
help you?”, “Thank you for calling…”
Common Errors

 Starting the conversation without a

script
 Getting the call to start on a bad
note
 Overloading customers with
unnecessary details
 Arguing with the customer
 Making false promises
 What are telephone skills and why do I
need them?
The telephone is probably the most important
business communication tool. Every business
relies on the telephone to keep in touch with
their clients. Do you know of any business
without a telephone? Handling telephone
contact well makes the difference between
selling products and services or losing
customers.
Telephones are so much a part of everyday life, that it is
inevitable you will need to use them. You will have to do
some of the following using the phone:
 Find out information for a report, letter or project

 Arrange meetings

 Interest someone in your company's products or service

 Apply for a job

 Place an order or buy something

 Ask for help

 Deal with customers' queries

 Take an order for a product

 Convey important news

 Deal with customers' complaints.

 Answer all incoming calls quickly

 Always identify yourself and your

company

 Greet the customer on all calls

 Identify/verify the Customer name

 Speak slowly and clearly and smile

while speaking

 Listen actively
 Always confirm each point of
information you are given.
 Make notes during the call. Don’t rely
on your memory.
 Behave in an efficient way, even if
you are just taking a message.
 Let the other person finish what they
want to say, don’t interrupt them.
 Never answer the phone with food in
your mouth or try to eat quietly
while talking. Drinking, chewing gum
or sucking on a mint are amplified
over telephone lines
 Don't do things such as open mail,
flip through the newspaper or do
paperwork while on the phone. The
person you're talking with will know
you're distracted
 Never put the customer on hold for
too long

 Do not be rude to the customers,

even if they are angry and irate
 Never end the conversation
unexpectedly

 Never hang-up on a customer !

Call Control

When we have to use a second

language as the medium of
communication, we may face the
disadvantage of lack of
confidence thereby providing the
customer an opportunity to
control the call.
EXAMPLE
Situation

David has a regular telephone contact

with a subsidiary company in the UK.
One of his responsibilities is to co-
ordinate a monthly management
report on the performance of foreign
branches and subsidiaries for Head
Office.
For this he needs regular information on
orders, sales, stock, prices and trends
from the overseas branches. His UK
contact is un-cooperative and likes to
make it plain that in his opinion it is a
waste of his time to compile these
statistics every month.
He knows that David is hesitant in his use
of English, so he easily controls the
conversation to prevent David getting
what he wants.
 Phone Call 1

David: Hello Michael. Its David

Michael: Hello, look I’m pretty busy
right now, so do you think you can
make it quick?
David:I’m sorry to disturb you, I just
wanted to remind about the monthly
report.
Michael: Oh, that. Look, I haven’t got
much time at present. I’ll let you have
it as soon as I get a minute.
David: I appreciate that. Its 2 days late
already.
Michael: Is it? You know, I really do
have rather more important things to
do rather than crunch numbers for
you.
David: I know it’s a nuisance, but I
really do need those figures.
Michael: Okay David. I’ve already said
I’ll do it as soon as I can. Now, if you
don’t mind, I’m pretty busy.
Phone call 2
David: Hello, Michael, is this a good
time to talk to talk or would you like
me to call again later?
Michael: Oh, David. No, that’s all right.
Might as well talk now.
David: I just wanted to remind you
about the monthly report.
Michael: Oh that. Look, I haven’t got
much time at present. I’ll let you
have it as soon as I get a minute.
David: Okay, shall we say the day after
tomorrow. Its already 2 days late. I’ll give
you a ring to check that its ready.
Michael: Oh, I suppose so. I really do have
rather more important things to do rather
than crunch numbers for you.
David: I know its a nuisance, but Head
Office insists on having the report on
time. I’ve got my job to do and I can’t
finish my report without your report.
Michael: Okay, David. The day after
tomorrow. Now I’d better get on.
 Questioning Techniques
Reasons for asking question:

 To obtain information
 To find out the opinion of other people
 To ask other people to contribute their
ideas
 To find out the reasons behind events
 To seek confirmation
 Question Styles
 Closed vs Open ended questions

Closed questions permit only YES/NO

answers whereas open questions leaves
space to give explanations or
expansions.
Eg.
Have you finished that report yet?
How are you getting on with that report?
Wh-type Questions

 Questions starting with question words like

what, when, why, who..how…..are open
questions but they can be very direct.
Too many questions like this have the
flavour of an interrogation and may seem
uncomfortable.
It may be required to preface the questions
with phrases that show the questioner is
aware of the intrusiveness of the questions.
Eg.
 May I ask you……
 Could you tell me……
 Would you mind telling me…..
 I wonder if I could ask you…..
 I would be interested in knowing…
 I know its not really my business….
Facilitative Style Questions
If the intention of the questioner is
really to prompt the other person to
disclose information freely, then
question techniques may not be
appropriate at all.
Instead, it might be better to echo
and reformulate in order to give the
other person the opportunity to
expand.
 Illustrative dialogue.
A. Well, I live in a flat in a rather poor part
of the town.
B. Poor part of town….?

A. Yes, its quite dirty and the streets are

badly lit. that’s why I don’t like going
out alone.
B. So, you’re frightened to go out alone?

A. Well, yes because we hear of attacks

and muggings. That’s why I want to
leave
Big telephone blunders
 300 kilos of white mice.
 300 kilos of white rice.

 18 cents per kilo.

 80 cents per kilo.

 2 boxes striped pajamas

 2 boxes ripe bananas.