subject: Top Business Skills - Telephone Skills [print this page] When it comes to top business skills, there are many skills that you will want to acquire or improve. Some of the most overlooked top business skills are telephone skills. These skills are important to the running of any business, as every business has a phone. Whether you are running your own business or are working for any other business, you will want to have the right telephone skills. In the following article, we will further discuss telephone skills and their importance.
The telephone skills of anyone who deals with customers or other people over the phone should be at their best. The manner that clients are handled on the phone could very well make or break a business. When speaking on the telephone with clients, there is always the chance that you might lose them if you say the wrong thing or have a bad attitude. Losing a client in any manner is never a good occurrence for the business.
Clients who have bad experiences with the representatives of a company over the phone are not likely to be repeat customers after that point. These customers may also spread the word to the people they know about their dissatisfaction with a company and their bad telephone experience with that company. Having good telephone skills and manners is essential to keeping the customers who call happy. You will want your phone conversations with customers to exceed their expectations. This will impress the customer and both of you will have a positive experience.
Clients who are happy with the business will be more apt to spread their feelings of satisfaction about the company to others. When running your own home business over the internet, you may not have to deal with clients on the phone very often, as they may be more prone to contacting you through email. However, you will need to enhance your telephone skills no matter how few the customers calls are that you receive.
When answering a business phone, you will want to start out with answering it quickly and greeting the person on the other end in a friendly fashion. No one likes calling a business and having to wait a long time for the business to answer or being greeted by a grumpy representative. You and your business team must all realize that telephone skills will include the ability to focus on the wants and needs of the customer at all times. While you may not want to be agreeable to everything a client has to say on the phone, especially if they are calling with a complaint, you will want to be as patient and understanding as possible.
