Answer the Phone Already!

Subtitled:  “What I Hate About Bad Manners”

Let’s see how long it takes this post to hit the wall and smack me in the back of the head.

I have two pet peeves involving communication at work.

1. Bad email techniques (Can be discussed further, or check this out)
2. Bad telephone techniques

What is most frustrating to you when calling someone at a business?  Is it the busy signal, the voice mail or the phone ringing off the hook to never be answered by a person or voice mail before you hang up?

Mine is the last one.   To that end, I do my utmost to ensure that people calling me don’t receive the last.  When I am not at my desk for an extended period of time, I put on my Do Not Disturb (what we call DND in the office) so that anyone calling gets shoved right to my voice mail.  

When your clients need something now, they don’t want to sit on the other end of the phone and listen to it ring, ring, ring, ring, and ring …

They want a response even if its annoying voice mail. 

I realize at times you have no chance to update voice mail (ie: home sick), but if you set up your phone so it would go right to voice mail before you left the office, your clients and co-workers aren’t dealing with a phone ringing off the hook.   (Most companies have instructions  to access your voice mail from outside the office and update your message. So if you have to call in sick, call your phone and update the voice mail message.)   

People - customers are money.   Ringing phones with no answer upsets customers.

How about when you call a business and the receptionist, or whomever you get first, transfers your call and you end up in transfer circle hell because no one wants to help you?  OMG!  I could pull out my hair and spit nails when this happens.  Take responsibility for the caller even if its not your job.  Representing the company is your job, no matter if the customers’ request is outside your scope. 

How about being told, “Hold one second,” and then click you’re into muzak hell?  When someone tells me this and I’m placed on hold I say to myself, “Seconds up.”  By that time the person should be back on the line helping me. 

Doesn’t happen does it?

“I will have to find out who can help you.  This may take a few minutes.  Can you hold for that long?”

How would you like to hear that instead if, “Hold one second,” and click?

Ask the person if they can hold on.  Let them know what YOU are going to be doing for them.  Take charge!!  If they cannot hold, tell the caller you’ll get their message to the right person. 

I’ve bitched enough on this matter.  The biggest pet peeve is allowing a phone to ring, the rest comes along with good customer service period.

• Good Read:  Top Ten Telephone Basics by Shep Hyken, CSP

Tags: Work