Zoom's top ten answering tips!

Here at Zoom we answer all your calls professionally and handle each customer the way we'd like to be dealt with if it were the other way around. 

Here are our top ten tips for professionally handling telephone calls!

#1: Learn the callers business language. We research each sector we answer calls for, making sure we understand and can use similar phrases and terminology, so the customer feel that they can trust us. 

#2: Match the customers approach. If a customer is in a hurry, we'll always acknowledge this and if we have to get help or information from elsewhere, we always let them know an estimate of how long it will take. 

#3. Answer the call after 2 rings and before 6. Answering a call after 1 ring generally can throw people completely, they don't expect such a sudden answer and generally they aren't quite ready! So we answer all calls after 2 rings and always before 6, as no one likes to be kept waiting.

#4. Don't hang up first, let the caller. We never hang up first, as 30% of people on the phone add a sudden "Oh by the way..." and if we hung up first, we'd miss this!

#5. Sound lively, interested and efficient. This is the impression the caller has of the company and we want to keep it that way. We will never lower your businesses reputation.

#6. Have open questions ready in case of a pause. Pauses of longer than 10 seconds are unacceptable to callers, so we always have a list of questions or non-contentious things to talk about to make sure all callers feel comfortable dealing with us. 

#7. Never assume callers are like you. We will never pass comment on issues such as race, religion, politics or even sport, as we never assume that people hold the same views as us. Even a passing comment may cause an issue if there is a difference of opinion and that just won't do when the caller expects a professional phone call. 

#8. Don't worry about good vocabulary. In other words, there's no need to use long, fancy and difficult language as it may well just confuse the caller. We use plain but professional vocabulary to make sure they understand exactly what we are saying. 

#9. Don't say "I don't know". We never say this, it's highly unprofessional. Instead we'll always tell the caller that we'll find out and get back to them, it leaves them with the reassurance that we care and we want to help them with their enquiries. 

#10. Be an active listener to build trust. Listening is critical on the phone and the caller needs to know that you're paying attention to what they're saying. We use short phrases such as "ok”, "I understand" and "yes" to show we are interested and actively listening to what the caller is saying.