“Hello” and “Hey, what’s up?” These are two generic ways that people tend to greet callers when they pick up their phones. Presumably, such phone greetings are generally reserved for close friends and relatives. They are the types of greetings that those closest to you would expect and not take any offence to. However, if you were to answer your business phone in much the same way, it could do major damage to your company.
It should go without saying that it’s important to establish a friendly and professional greeting when answering calls at work. Each and every member of your staff should be well trained to know exactly how to greet callers who have dialled up your business. Naturally, it conveys respect and professionalism to say more than a simple “hello” when answering the phone. And there are many respectful and professional greeting types that can be used.
Keep in mind that not all of your greetings will be live. In many cases, you’ll need to record your phone greetings so that your callers can listen to them when they dial up your business outside of normal operating hours. Whether live or recorded, all of your greetings will need to carry similar tones and inflections that communicate friendliness, a dedication to excellent customer service and professionalism at its best.
Here are four examples:
1. The live welcome greeting. During business hours, your customers expect to get live representatives on the phone. At MeloTel, we recommend an expression of gratitude when answering your calls. For example, “Thank you for calling MeloTel, how can I help you today?” Of course, there are many variations to this type of thankful greeting that you can use. Perhaps, you can add “we’re happy you called today” or “your business is important to us.”
2. The after hours welcome greeting. Outside of business hours, it’s important that you have an auto attendant that both directs calls to the appropriate departments and allows callers to leave messages for the appropriate representatives of your company. “To speak to John, please press 1” and “Hi, you’ve reached John. I’m sorry I missed your call, but if you would please leave a detailed message, I’ll happily return it as soon as I have the opportunity” are options here.
3. The on hold message. It’s important that callers are still being spoken to even when they aren’t being spoken to by a live agent. In the many instances when you may have to put callers on hold, it’s wise to have them listen to recorded messages that periodically remind them that someone will be with them soon. “Your call is important to us. Please continue to hold the line and a representative will be happy to help you shortly.”
4. The high call volume message. In some cases, you will have what feels like a barrage of calls coming in from your client base. And while the opportunity to speak to numerous customers is a good thing, it can become a bit frustrating for those who have to endure long wait times. It’s wise to offer options to such callers. “We are currently experiencing a high call volume. Please continue to hold the line for the next available representative or press 2 to leave a message. Your call will be returned as soon as a representative becomes available.”
MeloTel can help you to prepare all of your phone greetings so that your company continues to grow its friendly and professional reputation. For more information about our Commercial Phone Services, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-888-MELOTEL or use the “Live Chat Support” feature on our website!
