Whatever career you are in, you almost definitely needed training to start with. If your job is simple, that training may have been a supervisor walking you through things for an hour, while for more complex job requirements you may need to spend years at university (doctors certainly need more than an hour or so of training!). Surprisingly, many employers don't feel that call answering skills require any training. Naturally, we at Zoom would disagree strenuously with that!
As an employer perhaps you feel that offering training is too expensive, or unnecessary as it is 'just answering the phone'. Unfortunately, lack of training is often the reason why employees fail to deliver the expected level of customer service. Both customer service and call answering are skills that need to be taught and practised; all our Zoomettes have extensive training, covering Customer Service NVQ Levels 1, 2 & 3.
As well as training our own staff, we also offer coaching for either individuals or groups on Competency, Attitude and Impression with regards to telephony skills. These are important skills to learn if you want your staff to handle calls in the best way possible, leaving your customers satisfied and seeing your company in the best possible light.
Showing posts with label call answering skills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label call answering skills. Show all posts
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
Sunday, 18 March 2012
Calls We Can't Help With
Here at Zoom, we are experts in call answering. Our Zoomettes have the skills to take hundreds of phone calls a day, and still be happy and smiley for each one. Our message taking abilities are second to none. However, there are things we can't do for you, as much as we'd like to help.
Certain holidays, such as today, Mothering Sunday, throw into the light that which we can't do. We can take a message from your mother and send it on to you via text or email, or however you want. We can smile when we talk to her and remain friendly. But we can't make sure you call her back, or wish her Happy Mother's Day! This is why it's a team effort; we take the calls, divert them to you when we can, or take messages, and then you call them back. On most days of the year, your mother is probably more patient than your clients, but on Mother's Day, a missed call could put you in her bad books!
Our customer service skills are an area we are rightly proud of, so we will always remain professional, but if we are having to take messages from people for you, whether it's your mother or an important client, it is important that you do your part and call them back. We like to think we are good at dealing with angry customers, but there is no need for them to be angry just because they haven't been called back! Check out the telephone tips section on our website if you need any tips in making or taking phone calls. And make sure you call your mum...because what's worse than an angry customer? An angry mum!
Certain holidays, such as today, Mothering Sunday, throw into the light that which we can't do. We can take a message from your mother and send it on to you via text or email, or however you want. We can smile when we talk to her and remain friendly. But we can't make sure you call her back, or wish her Happy Mother's Day! This is why it's a team effort; we take the calls, divert them to you when we can, or take messages, and then you call them back. On most days of the year, your mother is probably more patient than your clients, but on Mother's Day, a missed call could put you in her bad books!
Our customer service skills are an area we are rightly proud of, so we will always remain professional, but if we are having to take messages from people for you, whether it's your mother or an important client, it is important that you do your part and call them back. We like to think we are good at dealing with angry customers, but there is no need for them to be angry just because they haven't been called back! Check out the telephone tips section on our website if you need any tips in making or taking phone calls. And make sure you call your mum...because what's worse than an angry customer? An angry mum!
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Call Answering Tips
There are a variety of skills involved in telephone answering, and delivering good customer services. Our Zoomettes have years of training and experience in this, so are well placed to offer you some tips. It doesn't all come as naturally as you might think!
Active listening - imagine you are listening to someone explain something to you in person. What do you do? Do you stand there giving them no response whatsoever? Probably not! Even if you don't vocalise anything, chances are your head is nodding, or tilting, your eye brows raising, and you may even be mouthing words without sound. Much of that will not transmit over the phone, so you need to translate it into audio. A simple 'mmhmm', 'oh', 'yes' or 'right' lets the customer on the end of the phone know you are still there and you are still paying attention. Total silence over the phone worries people as they can't be sure you haven't put them on hold, or even just ignoring them!
Fill the silence - similarly, if you need to do anything that leads to prolonged silence, you should have a few uncontentious questions to ask ("did you have a good weekend") so that there isn't a silence lasting longer than about 10 seconds. You do need to be careful that you don't end up babbling or sounding nervous - you want to portray the image of a friendly, confident company!
Active listening - imagine you are listening to someone explain something to you in person. What do you do? Do you stand there giving them no response whatsoever? Probably not! Even if you don't vocalise anything, chances are your head is nodding, or tilting, your eye brows raising, and you may even be mouthing words without sound. Much of that will not transmit over the phone, so you need to translate it into audio. A simple 'mmhmm', 'oh', 'yes' or 'right' lets the customer on the end of the phone know you are still there and you are still paying attention. Total silence over the phone worries people as they can't be sure you haven't put them on hold, or even just ignoring them!
Fill the silence - similarly, if you need to do anything that leads to prolonged silence, you should have a few uncontentious questions to ask ("did you have a good weekend") so that there isn't a silence lasting longer than about 10 seconds. You do need to be careful that you don't end up babbling or sounding nervous - you want to portray the image of a friendly, confident company!
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