Part of any professional communication training is learning how to answer the telephone professionally and courteously. When it comes right down to it, a professional phone greeting boils down to 5 simple steps, or P-H-O-N-E:
P-Use your POWER TONE (Center your voice, and get into character.)
H-Say HELLO (For example, “Good morning, thanks for calling….”)
O-Give the ORGANIZATION’S name (For example, “Power Diversity communication training and energy vampire slaying….”)
N-State your NAME (For example, “This is Dan….”)
E-END with a question (For example, “What can I do for you today?”)
To put it all together, a powerful, polished, professional greeting sounds something like, “Thanks for calling Power Diversity communication training and energy vampire slaying, this is Dan, what can I do for you today?”
The above is an example of free-style scripting–having a plan and verbal pattern that you can alter to fit your needs, while ensuring you hit all of the major communication points you want to hit. Scripting should be part of any professional communication training, whether on-site, public, or online.
Do you have a communication situation you would like some help with? Go to our HELP ME DAN column.
Tags: answering the phone, communication training, free-style scripting, how to answer the phone, Professional Communication, scripting, telephone etiquette, telephone skills