Telephone Etiquette – is it too much to ask for?
It’s quiet shocking how many so-called ‘businesses’, as they like to call themselves, lack professional telephone manners.
Allow me to illustrate. I rang two suppliers this morning. It was a decent time of day – 10:30 am – so not too early for the independent trader who hasn’t quite managed to kick-start their day.
For ease of reference let me address the two suppliers as ‘A’ and ‘B’. Now, bearing in mind that I had attempted to use supplier A’s services on a previous occasion, I still thought that I’d give them the benefit of the doubt (we all have bad days) and make them my first port of call today, given their convenient location. And what do I get? An answer machine with an outdated message! I try 10 minutes later and still the same message!
So I turn to supplier B. Here’s how the conversation goes:
“Hello”, says female a voice on the other side of the line.
I explain my requirements to which the voice hesitantly responds, “My father runs the business. I have no idea”.
“Is he available or should I call back”, I asked pleasantly.
“Do you have his mobile number?”
At this point I could feel my feathers being ruffled and I patiently explained that only the landline was listed so I had not other contact number.
After a slight pause, the daughter responded in rather dismissive tones, “Call back later.”
You may ask where I’m going with this. Well, it’s not the first time that I’ve attempted to contact suppliers where the phone either rings indefinitely or the line is dead or it’s answered in the most amateur fashion. I am a self-employed Jack of all trades. I can confidently say that if I’m unable to receive calls from my clients, prospective or otherwise, they will always be greeted with a professional message. If you are a small business owner you do not have to employ a receptionist or equivalent take calls in your absence. If you’d like to leave a family member in charge of your calls then at the least insure that they are briefed on how to answer calls. If this is not achievable then let the message go to your answer phone or voicemail service. It actually costs NOTHING to record a professional greeting on your landline handset or mobile. The fundamentals of good business is to provide a means for your clients to contact you.
Needless to say, that supplier A and B have both been removed from my list of contacts!
No trackbacks yet.